Being a follower of Pakistan cricket must feel especially painful at the moment. The national side has stumbled through 14 losses in the last 19 Test matches, a slump that was underscored by a humiliating three‑day defeat at Headingley where England piled on an innings and 103 runs in the opening Test of the series.
The English bowlers were relentless, the batsmen unconvincing and the fielding sloppy – a perfect storm of shortcomings that left the Pakistani camp reeling. Ahead of the second Test at Lord's, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket (the pre‑show starts at 10 am, the first ball at 11 am), senior Cricinfo editor and Pakistan specialist Osman Samiuddin joined former England captains Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.
During the discussion, Samiuddin laid out a series of structural and managerial failures that he believes have pushed Pakistani cricket to an "alarm‑bells" stage, with supporters increasingly frustrated by the way the game is being administered. Samiuddin began by pointing out the chronic instability of the domestic framework.
For the past half‑century Pakistan has been locked in a tug‑of‑war between departmental teams (sponsored by corporations, banks and government bodies) and regional sides representing provinces. He argued that the board must finally settle on one model and stick to it for at least a decade.
"Since the inaugural first‑class season in 1953 the structure has been altered almost every year," he said. "There has been no continuity, and that erodes the foundation on which talent is nurtured." The most recent upheaval came in the 2019‑20 season when the PCB slashed the number of first‑class teams from sixteen to six, only to later expand again to sixteen across four first‑class competitions and three limited‑overs tournaments. That abrupt reduction wiped out roughly half of the country's professional cricketers overnight.
Samiuddin recounted anecdotes of former first‑class players being forced to take up taxi driving because their contracts vanished instantly. The constant reshuffling has diluted the quality of domestic cricket, which is the primary pipeline for the national side. He also highlighted the geographic concentration of matches. Previously, first‑class games were spread across sixteen venues, giving batsmen and bowlers exposure to a variety of pitches and conditions.
In recent years, however, the bulk of fixtures have been played on just four or five grounds. "How can a young batsman like Abdullah Shafique or a seasoned opener such as Imam‑ul‑Haq learn to adapt when they only ever play on a handful of surfaces?" Samiuddin asked rhetorically. Another grievance is the scarcity of Test opportunities.
Pakistan has not played ten or more Tests in a calendar year since 2017. By contrast, only Sri Lanka (four), Ireland (three) and Afghanistan (two) have scheduled fewer than five Tests in 2025. The PCB has pencilled in nine Tests for 2026, but the lack of regular, high‑quality four‑day cricket hampers player development and erodes confidence. Samiuddin turned his attention to the board’s leadership.
Since 2021, Pakistan has cycled through four chairmen – Ramiz Raja, Najam Sethi, Zaka Ashraf and the current incumbent Mohsin Naqvi, who also serves as the nation’s interior minister. "His ministerial duties keep him extremely busy, so one wonders how much time he can realistically devote to cricket administration," Samiuddin observed. The revolving door of chairmen has resulted in inconsistent policies and a lack of strategic vision.
The expert also criticized the handling of star players. Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, Abdullah Shafique and Naseem Shah have all burst onto the international scene, only to see their progress stall. Samiuddin blamed the PCB’s career‑management practices – from injury rehabilitation to player development – for this regression. Shaheen, for instance, suffered a knee injury while fielding in Sri Lanka in 2022, and his return was marred by confusion over his rehab programme.
He has featured in only nine of Pakistan’s 27 Tests since the injury, while Naseem Shah has not played a Test since December 2024. Both fast bowlers have seen their first‑class workload evaporate, a dangerous sign for athletes who need regular match practice to maintain pace and durability.
Frequent changes in the coaching staff have compounded the problem. Players often do not know who their head coach or bowling coach is at any given time, creating a fragmented environment that hinders skill refinement. Samiuddin warned that the “waste” of talent in Pakistan has accelerated dramatically over the past five or six years, far beyond the normal attrition seen in any sporting system. The lack of transparent selection policies has also been a point of contention.
Both Shaheen and Naseem, despite being among the world’s most promising pacers, have been omitted from the Test squad without clear justification. "Dropping players arbitrarily messes with their careers and undermines morale," Samiuddin asserted. Fan sentiment, according to the analyst, is shifting from disappointment in results to anger at the governance itself.
At Leeds, the Pakistani contingent was noticeably thin, and supporters expressed fatigue with the board’s mismanagement rather than with the players’ performances. "People will still turn up at Lord’s, but the numbers are dwindling," he said. "We are at a danger point where cricket in Pakistan could follow the same decline trajectory as hockey in the country or West Indies cricket, which has slipped into irrelevance." In summary, Samiuddin’s diagnosis of Pakistan’s cricketing woes points to a cascade of interrelated issues: a constantly changing domestic structure that starves the game of stability, insufficient Test exposure, erratic leadership at the top, poor player‑development pathways, and a selection process that lacks clarity. Unless the PCB commits to a long‑term, coherent plan and respects the needs of its players, the alarm bells will continue to ring, and the once‑vibrant cricket culture in Pakistan may face a prolonged period of decline.