The fall from grace: What's ailing Pakistan cricket
Asher Butt
Pakistan cricket, once synonymous with unpredictable brilliance and fearsome talent, finds itself in a profound crisis. The recent Champions Trophy 2025 debacle, where the defending champions crashed out in the group stage after consecutive defeats to New Zealand and India, has exposed deep-rooted systemic issues that have been festering for years. This is not merely a temporary slump but rather the manifestation of fundamental flaws that have gradually eroded the foundation of Pakistan cricket.
Amidst leadership vacuum, there is a crisis of governance within the PCB. At the heart of Pakistan cricket's decline lies a leadership crisis within the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). Under the chairmanship of Mohsin Naqvi, the board has demonstrated a concerning pattern of poor decision-making, administrative incompetence, and lack of strategic vision. The Champions Trophy 2025, which was meant to showcase Pakistan's return as a major cricketing host, instead became a testament to the PCB's mismanagement.
The rushed stadium renovations at Gaddafi Stadium, costing an astounding Rs 12 billion and completed in just 110 days, exemplify this mismanagement. While the speed of completion might seem impressive on paper, the context makes this expenditure questionable. With India's refusal to play in Pakistan already looming large, the massive investment appears poorly timed and inadequately planned by the Pakistan Construction Board.
Perhaps most damaging was the PCB's diplomatic failure in handling relations with India. Despite Chairman Naqvi's bold assurances that all teams, including India, would participate in Pakistan, the board failed to secure India's commitment until it was too late to implement any meaningful contingency plans. The mysterious "Fusion Formula" cited to justify India's position lacked documentation and transparency, further highlighting the absence of professional diplomacy and strategic foresight.
Apart from the administrative dilemma, there was selection chaos that undermined the team’s stability. Team selection has been another critical area of concern. The selection committee has routinely demonstrated inconsistency, making bewildering choices that defy cricketing logic. The squad announced for the Champions Trophy deviated significantly from the combination that had previously brought stability to Pakistan's ODI cricket.
The handling of Saim Ayub's injury exemplifies this chaos. Rather than making minimal adjustments to maintain team balance, selectors opted for wholesale changes that completely disrupted team chemistry. This decision left both cricket experts and fans bewildered about the selection rationale, with few convinced of the squad's potential.
These frequent and often inexplicable changes to the playing eleven have created an environment where players lack security and clarity about their roles. The psychological impact of such instability cannot be understated — players performing under constant threat of arbitrary exclusion rarely play with the freedom and confidence needed for success at the international level.
The once-fierce Pakistan-India rivalry has deteriorated into a one-sided affair, with Pakistan routinely failing to even compete effectively against their arch-rivals. Sunday's defeat in the Champions Trophy was Pakistan's sixth consecutive ODI loss to India, with most matches ending in comfortable Indian victories.
It's always unpleasant to lose to India but what's even more depressing is that at this point, Pakistan's ODI unit cannot even deliver a competitive game, let alone a win. The pattern of recent defeats—by 8 wickets, 9 wickets, 89 runs, 228 runs, 7 wickets, and now 6 wickets — paints a stark picture of Pakistan's declining competitiveness.
What makes this particularly troubling is that India's dominance hasn't required extraordinary performances. Their success has come through disciplined bowling, sharp fielding, and calculated batting — basic cricketing fundamentals that Pakistan seems unable to execute consistently. Where Indian pacers hit the right lines, Pakistan's bowlers were wayward; where Indian fielders held their catches, Pakistani counterparts dropped four; where Indian batters showed calculated finesse, Pakistani batters threw away their wickets.
The technical deficiencies in Pakistan's batting and bowling have become increasingly apparent. Against India, Pakistani batsmen appeared vulnerable to disciplined bowling, unable to construct innings or handle pressure situations. The team's collective failure to adapt to match situations reflects poor preparation and tactical awareness.
Pakistan's bowling, traditionally the team's strength, has also declined alarmingly. According to data, Pakistani bowlers have taken just 24 wickets in their last five games at an average of 60—the second-worst bowling average among the 14 teams playing ODI cricket this year. This statistic reflects a fundamental deterioration in Pakistan's bowling quality and effectiveness.
Perhaps most concerning is the team's mental fragility in high-pressure situations. Time and again, Pakistan has struggled to handle pressure in major ICC events, with similar collapses occurring across multiple tournaments. This trend suggests psychological barriers that transcend mere technical issues.
Behind these visible struggles lies a more fundamental problem: the infrastructure supporting cricket in Pakistan. Training facilities and stadiums often lack modern amenities, affecting both player preparation and fan engagement. More critically, the player development pathways contain systemic flaws, with inadequate support structures for emerging players.
The contrast with India's robust domestic cricket structure is stark. While India has developed a well-funded, professionally managed system that consistently produces technically sound players ready for international cricket, Pakistan's domestic cricket continues to suffer from inconsistent investment and frequent restructuring.
The path to recovery for Pakistan cricket cannot be found in the typical response of wholesale changes for optical purposes. As history has shown, merely replacing individuals without addressing the underlying systems rarely produces lasting improvement. Instead, what's needed is comprehensive reform addressing each level of Pakistan cricket.
The PCB requires professionalization and depoliticization, with appointments based on merit rather than affiliations. Selection policies need standardization and transparency, with clear criteria that players can understand and work toward. The domestic cricket structure requires stability and increased investment, with emphasis on creating competitive environments that prepare players for international challenges.
Most importantly, Pakistan cricket needs leadership with both vision and implementation capability—individuals who can chart a clear long-term strategy and stay the course despite inevitable short-term setbacks.
The painful truth is that Pakistan cricket's current predicament represents a collective failure across multiple domains—administrative, technical, and psychological. The defending champions' early exit from the Champions Trophy 2025 is merely a symptom of deeper ailments that have been allowed to fester for too long.
Yet cricket in Pakistan has shown remarkable resilience throughout its history. The passionate support of millions of fans and the country's natural cricketing talent provide a foundation for potential revival. With honest introspection, structural reforms, and patient building, Pakistan cricket can reclaim its place among the sport's elite nations.
The choice facing Pakistan cricket is clear: continue the cycle of cosmetic changes and perpetual disappointment, or embrace fundamental reform that addresses the root causes of decline. As the dust settles on another tournament failure, cricket-crazy Pakistanis indeed deserve better than false hopes and poor management. They deserve a cricket team that reflects the nation's passion, talent, and potential.
