Former England captain Nasser Hussain called out inconsistency issues in the Pakistan cricket board and team. The cricketer-turned-commentator was part of the panel during the recently concluded Pakistan and England Test series.
In the recent conversation with PakPassion, Hussain said there is lack of consistency and stability in the Pakistan board.
“I’ve always said I’m amazed how well Pakistan does with everything that goes on behind the scenes. Some of it is controllable—captains, coaches, selectors—with constant changes. I don’t know of any business or sporting environment where a lack of consistency behind the scenes can result in team success.”
Pakistan team was in real chaos in the recent past when Shaheen was removed from captaincy after just one series and Babar Azam was reappointed to the role for the T20 World Cup 2024. The performance was below par in the tournament and it followed a whitewash by Bangladesh in a Test match series.
“The inconsistency in decision-making has rattled the players,” Hussain noted. “It’s clear that behind-the-scenes instability affects the team’s performance. Pakistan’s cricket has often thrived despite these issues, but the results recently suggest it’s becoming harder to maintain that success.”
Hussain also pointed out that Pakistan did well in the England series and when it felt the things were going right, the dismissal of Gary Kirsten happened.
“Some of it is uncontrollable with finances and the way the game is divided up, and you know, things like that. But you know, Pakistan at times have been successful in spite of everything that goes on behind the scene, not because of it. And there’s, you know, two really good weeks and a real out in Pakistan cricket, the very next day, you know, Gary Kirsten resigned as coach, and it continues,” he said.
Nevertheless, he was hopeful that Pakistan could sort out things and could perform up to the mark in their forthcoming series. He was vocal about bringing consistency and solving a lot of problems.
“I hope what we saw in the last couple of weeks in Pakistan is the start of some good times,” Hussain added. “Consistency is key. Give the captain and coach the team they want, make players feel secure in their roles, and stop the revolving door of selectors and leadership. That’s the only way to build a team that can achieve long-term success.”
On a lighter note when he was asked about taking the role of chairman in PCB he jokingly replied “I would only last a couple of weeks as Chairman of PCB.”
Hussain also appreciated Pakistan’s strategy of spin wickets as it suited the bowlers and he hoped the side would continue this strategy.
“So they made the pitches spin which suit obviously Pakistan have some very fine players of spin, Saud Shakeel, Salman Agha, most of that mid-order is one and they brought in two very fine spinners, experienced spinners in Noman and Sajid and they just bowled beautifully and England also in those conditions”
“Pakistan’s plans were spot on after that first test, how long they could do it for I don’t know but I like the template and I hope at home they carry on with that template.”
