Pakistan cricket was reeling on Wednesday after its first-ever Test defeats against Bangladesh, the latest in a string of poor performances which have seen the game hit rock bottom.
The nation was left in despair after losing the second Test in Rawalpindi by six wickets on Tuesday as Bangladesh swept the series 2-0.
It was the 10th winless home Test in a row for former powerhouses Pakistan and came hard on the heels of failing to get out of their groups at both the 50-over and T20 World Cups in the past year.
“It’s a huge setback and our cricket is at a crossroads,” former captain and legendary fast bowler Wasim Akram told AFP.
“For a former player and captain, and a lover of the game, I was left embarrassed at the way they have lost from good positions. I simply don’t get it.
“We are losing consistently on home turf and that says a lot about the quality of our cricket,” added Akram, who played 104 Tests and 356 one-day internationals for Pakistan.
The defeat to Bangladesh comes hard on the heels of chastening losses against Afghanistan and the USA in the ODI and T20 World Cups respectively.
Pakistan also have a dismal record in Tests at home in the past three years — six defeats and four draws, including England’s first-ever 3-0 series sweep there in 2022.
Ominously, in-form England are Pakistan’s next visitors and will play three Tests beginning in Multan on October 7.
Pakistan are not faring any better away from home, they lost all three Tests in Australia earlier this year — their sixth successive whitewash there since 1999.
“People have started to hate cricket,” former international player and regional coach Basit Ali told AFP.
“Bangladesh has shown us the mirror of what we are at international level.
“It’s a cliche that wins and losses are part of the game, but this is a seismic shock.” Ali, who played 19 Tests and 50 ODIs for Pakistan, echoed the consensus among fans and commentators that the international team seems disjointed on the field.
“Pakistan did not play as a unit and players looked scattered,” he said. “It is sad and embarrassing to say that this is Pakistan’s team.”
The loss also saw the Pakistan side battered by the national press, which said disunity stemmed from problems at the very top.
“With the PCB’s top management changing with every change of guard at political level, there is has been no consistent framework,” said Dawn.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is currently chaired by Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.
“Pakistan team’s rapid downward spiral has been alarming, to say the least,” said the Express Tribune on Wednesday. The sequence of high-profile losses “makes the mind boggle”, it added.
“Since 1998, hand-picked favourites of the respective ruling regimes in the country have taken turns as PCB chairmen to run the game in their own clueless manner, only to ruin it,” the Express Tribune said.
Other analysts also say frequent changes at the top of the PCB, which has had five chairmen in the past three years, have impeded progress.
There have also been constant switches of captains and coaching staff while the domestic system of tournaments has had countless overhauls.
Naqvi himself called for “surgery in the system” after the T20 World Cup exit.
“We need to fix our problems,” he said last month. “But when we look at how to resolve them, we don’t have any solid data or player pool which we can draw from.”
Ex-skipper Akram echoed Naqvi’s analysis.
“The quality of our cricket has gone down with no grassroots activity, so we do not have proper back-ups,” he said.
“We have a lot to work on,” Akram said. “As a cricket nation we have to be patient, that’s the key.” “Unfortunately, there is no quick fix.”
Bangladesh’s new leader led the celebrations after the win over Pakistan, with commentators calling it a victory to savour a month after unrest ousted the autocratic former premier.
“Heartiest congratulations on behalf of the government and myself,” 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus told captain Najmul Hossain Shanto in a phone call after the win on Tuesday.
“The whole nation is proud of you,” he added, according to a statement from the office of Yunus, after the 2-0 clean sweep over Pakistan was sealed with a tense six-wicket victory in Rawalpindi.
Yunus took over after Sheikh Hasina fled to India as protesters marched on her palace in Dhaka to end 15 years of iron-fisted rule.
Dhaka Tribune splashed across its front page a photograph of the grinning team above a signboard with the simple message: “Winners”.
“The Tigers are burning bright,” the newspaper commented, praising an “emphatic victory”.
“There is genuine hope that, much as Bangladesh is experiencing a new beginning after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, this could be the dawn of a new era for Bangladesh cricket”, it added.
“This series win is emblematic of broader transformation within Bangladesh”, it read, saying the victory embodied the “resilience, determination, and the spirit of a nation that wants to achieve more than what was expected of it”.
Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971.
It was Shakib al Hasan, 37, who lost his job as a lawmaker for Hasina’s Awami League party after the student-led revolution, who hit the winning runs on Tuesday to spark jubilation.
“We can’t express feelings with words, we are really happy,” said captain Najmul.
“I think before we came here we were looking to win, and the way everyone did their job made me really happy.”
Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper called it a “surreal series victory” and “watershed moment”. “A triumph spurred by belief,” the Star’s headline read.
“Inside two weeks, Bangladesh dragged themselves out of seemingly unwinnable positions, not once but twice, in foreign conditions against an opponent whom they had lost to 12 times out of 13 previous encounters in Tests,” it added.
Bangladesh next travel to India for A two-match Test series beginning on September 18. Bangladesh have never won a Test against India in 13 attempts with Najmul calling it a “challenging series.”
But Bangladesh had similarly never beaten Pakistan in 14 matches before their first Test win by 10 wickets, which was also in Rawalpindi.
Political tensions between India and Bangladesh are running high, with 76-year-old Hasina being hosted by old ally New Delhi.
Bangladeshi students who led the uprising are demanding she return from India to be tried for the killing of protesters during the revolt.
Header image: Bangladesh’s players pose with the trophy as they celebrate after winning the second and last Test cricket match against Pakistan, at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Sept 3, 2024. — AFP
