‘India lost to Ireland’: Mohsin Naqvi’s brutal reminder as Pakistan presses panic button amid unprecedented backlash
PCB head Mohsin Naqvi He found an unusual way to defend Pakistani cricket Amid increasing criticism. He pointed to India’s shock defeat to Ireland and South Africa’s loss to Namibia as examples of even top teams suffering unexpected setbacks.
Their latest offers on England A tour where they suffered a heavy defeat without putting up much of a fight, only highlighted the concerns. The PCB responded with strict measures, sending seven Pakistani players home midway through the tour. Members of the coaching staff, including former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Omar Gul, were also escorted to the door in a major shake-up.
While admitting that Pakistani cricket is going through a difficult phase, Naqvi defended the team against criticism following the recent setbacks. He pointed to South Africa’s loss to Namibia and India’s shock defeat to Ireland as examples of top teams also suffering unexpected results.
“Let me ask you one thing: South Africa lost to Namibia, India lost to Ireland. Is cricket over there too? Yes, one thing is important: whoever we need here, we will definitely bring. If someone does not click or does not perform, what can we do? Every match and every series is important for us,” Naqvi said in a video clip that went viral on social media.
Naqvi also addressed the situation surrounding Salman Agha, who has struggled to find his form in recent matches despite being considered one of Pakistan’s key players.
He added: “Agha is a great player, however he is not clicking at the moment for certain reasons. We are not telling him: We asked you to go and rest; we spoke to him and did everything. So, the goal is not to remove someone from the team. The goal is that if the player does not click, we must make a change.”
“Look at the rating it was before.”
Meanwhile, Naqvi also responded to criticism of his tenure, insisting that Pakistan’s recent Test setbacks should not overshadow the progress made in white-ball formats. He argued that the team’s ODI and T20I ratings have improved since the introduction of the current coaching setup, while admitting that the two Test defeats were disappointing.
“Yes, certainly, what happened in the Test match cannot be called a mistake. We lost those two matches, but I believe that, God willing, we will make progress in the coming days, just as we did in the ODIs and T20Is. I have never been afraid of criticism, and I never will be. Those who say cricket has been ruined since I came – look at the ranking it was before we brought in our coaching team. We were eighth in the ODIs and now we are fifth,” he said. Naqvi: “T20 has us jumping to sixth place from ninth place.”
