Pakistan cricket’s familiar cycle of hype, disappointment and internal backlash has returned with force after another poor run on the field. A Super Eight exit from the T20 World Cup 2026 was followed by a 1-2 ODI series defeat in Bangladesh, and the fallout has now drawn a fierce response from former opener Ahmed Shehzad.
Shehzad’s criticism goes beyond a routine attack on selection or captaincy. His argument is that the Pakistan Cricket Board spent years building a small group of players into faces of both the national side and the PSL, only to find itself weaker, more dependent and no closer to consistent success when results began to slide.
Shehzad questions PCB’s player-first culture
“The calibre of your players is not at that level, which was built up as a baran by the Pakistan Cricket Board for the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 5 and 7 years ago. These 6-8 boys they are also the face of the PSL. They are also the face of our Pakistan team. Will they change Pakistan’s desitny?” Ahmed Shehzad questioned in a video posted on his YouTube channel.
“You provided all the sponsorships to those boys, endorsed them, and invested money in them. You have them captaincies in the PSL, right? You made them the thumb of the Pakistan team. You handed over the entire Pakistan cricket team to those 6 boys and their agents. And what have they done now? The fire they have lit in the jungle, the fun and parties they have had, the pockets they have filled, the enjoyment they have had, they haven’t given Pakistan any wins by doing so,” Shehzad said.
That charge goes to the heart of a long-running frustration around Pakistan cricket. For years, the team has lurched between heavy promotion and hard resets, with certain players repeatedly positioned as the side’s pillars. Shehzad’s point is that the board did not merely back a core group but also invested in their image, leadership, and commercial value, without establishing the accountability that should accompany that level of trust.
He then widened the criticism to the players themselves, accusing them of refusing to own the team’s failures even after repeated disappointments.
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“Such is the audacity that even today, they are ready to admit that we are responsible. Not a single one of those players. Even today, they play the blame game. Even today, their ego is such that it isn’t breaking. So weak is the Pakistan Cricket Board now,” he added.
Shehzad feels the problem is no longer underperformance; it is that the PCB now appears unable to impose authority on the very group it spent years empowering.
“Whenever you talk about any player, they start spinning stories. I have never seen the Pakistan Cricket Board this weak in my life, as weak as this PCB is. They have power, right? But in their decision-making, they appear to be kneeling before their players. This PCB can’t do anything. The work they were supposed to do – bringing in new faces – they didn’t. What they do is, after every event, they try to pull a new trick, but the public has now caught their pattern,” he said.
Shehzad’s outburst is not just an attack on a few players or one recent defeat. It is an argument that Pakistan cricket’s deeper problem lies in a system that markets stars, delays renewal, and loses control of its own direction.
