NEW DELHI: Defending champions Pakistan fought hard to get hosting rights for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 and made sincere efforts to make it a grand spectacle. Although India didn’t travel to Pakistan and instead opted to play their matches in Dubai, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) tried its best to make the Champions Trophy a successful event — renovating the stadiums was part of it.
However, Pakistan cricket team failed to meet the high expectations of the home crowd and crashed out after back-to-back defeats against New Zealand (by 60 runs) and India (by 6 wickets), with their last league match against Bangladesh being washed out.
For those following Pakistan cricket closely, this outcome was hardly surprising. Over the last decade, Pakistan’s performances in international cricket have steadily declined from bad to worse to tragic — with ICC events being no exception.
A look at India vs Pakistan ODIs across ICC events and Asia Cup since the 2015 World Cup tells the story. In their 10 meetings, Pakistan have won just once — in the 2017 Champions Trophy final. India have won eight times, while one match was abandoned due to rain.
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More concerning is the margins of defeat: 76 runs, 124 runs, 8 wickets, 9 wickets, 89 runs, 228 runs, 7 wickets, and now 6 wickets in Dubai. Clearly, Pakistan haven’t even come close in these contests.
This is just an example. The picture becomes clearer if we go through the overall performance of Pakistan.
They have failed to reach the final four of the last three ICC ODI World Cups in 2015, 2019, and 2023, and neither did they make it to the semifinal of the 2024 T20 World Cup and even lost to the USA, who were playing their first-ever World Cup.
And the World Test Championship? Well, Pakistan have progressively regressed (if that is even a phrase) have finished at 6th, 7th, and 9th position of 2019-21, 2021-23, and 2023-25 cycles, respectively.

But one must wonder, what has gone wrong for Pakistan cricket?
Why has the cricket of the nation, which once produced world-class players like Hanif Mohammad, Imran Khan, Wasim, Waqar, and Shoaib Akhtar, to name just a few, seen its downfall so drastically?
The reasons for this are plenty — from instability in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to broken domestic cricket structure and, of course, bad cricket.
Pakistan Cricket Board, like the country’s politics, has been an example of instability.
The PCB remains bound to the politics of the nation. The prime minister of Pakistan appoints the chairperson of PCB. But even by their standard, the instability and uncertainty in the PCB since 2021 have gone too far.
Since August 2021, when PCB chairperson Ehsan Mani stepped down from his post, PCB has had 4 chairpersons, more than half a dozen coaches, and 26 selectors.
Four chairpersons since Ehsan Mani stepped down. Ramiz Raja, Najam Sethi, Zaka Ashraf, and now Mohsin Naqvi have all been different from others in terms of policy and approach.
Najam Sethi even reversed progress by reinstating the 2014 PCB constitution in place of the 2019 version, effectively rolling back key reforms.
Additionally, he disrupted the domestic cricket framework by reintroducing departmental cricket, all within a span of less than six months.

Meanwhile, as for the incumbent Mohsin Naqvi, juggling his role as the country’s interior minister, one has to wonder: How much attention can he realistically give to Pakistan cricket?
Pakistan men’s team has had nine head coaches in this period, including interim appointments and separate roles for red- and white-ball cricket. The frequent changes have disrupted coaching systems and strategies.
Misbah-ul-Haq held a traditional head coach role while also serving as chief selector. Mickey Arthur briefly returned as team director, with Grant Bradburn as head coach.
Then, Mohammad Hafeez combined the team director and head coach roles. Then, there was no team director, but two head coaches — Gary Kirsten for white ball, and Jason Gillespie for red ball — both of them resigned in October and December last year, respectively.
Aqib Javed has since been serving as the interim coach of the team.
Since August 2021, Pakistan has cycled through 26 different selectors, experimenting with various selection structures. They’ve used traditional committees with a chief and a few members, a setup with a chief and consultants.
Some committees included the coach and captain, while others had seven voting members but no chief. The current setup consists of five members. Instability, you see.
When there’s such volatility at the helm, it inevitably cascades down to the bottom. After a poor 50-over World Cup in 2023 in India, Babar was replaced as captain by Shaheen Afridi in white-ball cricket and Shan Masood in Tests.
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However, Shaheen lasted only five matches, losing 4-1 to New Zealand, before the chairmanship changed and Babar was reinstated.
One can only envisage the impact on Shaheen’s morale, notwithstanding the inevitable tension created between the squad’s two stalwarts. Babar Azam later resigned from captaincy, and Mohammad Rizwan took over as white-ball captain.
Given this perpetual upheaval, it’s hardly astonishing that both emerging and seasoned players appear distinctly unsettled.
Who is there to help Shaheen Shah Afridi get back to his best? Who will enlighten Haris Rauf about his match-winning prowess?
The PCB seems to be revamping its domestic cricket structure — if there’s any structure at all — every now and then. The structure of the first-class tournament has undergone frequent changes, with regional and departmental teams alternating between playing separately one season and together the next.
In 2022, Najam Sethi scrapped the domestic structure introduced under Imran Khan’s tenure, reintroducing departmental cricket.
Meanwhile, Ramiz Raja had launched the Pakistan Junior League (T20 for youth) in 2022, but the new administration scrapped it after one season. The tournament earned PKR 94.72 million but incurred costs of PKR 929 million — a massive financial disaster.
Meanwhile, Mohsin Naqvi introduced three new ‘Champions’ domestic tournaments last year — Champions One-Day Cup, a Champions T20 Cup, and the Champions Pentangular (first-class cricket) — taking the total count of domestic tournaments to 8.

However, it remains unclear what these additions will accomplish that the existing five tournaments have not, other than inflating the schedule and stretching the domestic season to nearly a full year.
While all this is true, it can not hide or be used as an excuse for the fact that the quality of Pakistan men’s cricket has significantly descended.
The Babar Azams and Shaheen Afridis of the team were projected as they were destined for greatness; there were signs, but they have not evolved their game.
With all solidarity to Babar Azam for how he has been treated by Pakistani media or the PCB and the pressure mounted on him, there is no doubt that his performance has gone down significantly.
Shaheen Shah Afridi has lost his zip, while Naseem Shah no longer possesses the same pace he once did.
Despite extensive experience, Haris Rauf still struggles with accuracy in the longer formats. As white-ball captain, Mohammad Rizwan often appears lost on the field.
And when it comes to spinners, have Pakistan produced a single name, since Saeed Ajmal’s departure a decade ago, who has truly set the cricketing world alight?
The Pakistan team was referred to as unpredictable, now they just look unprepared and incapable.

Pakistan Cricket: Glorious past, uncertain future

Pakistan were once a powerhouse in world cricket. Their cricket was never just about numbers or stats; it was about flair, aggression, and an undeniable ability to rise on the biggest stages.
Pakistan have always been a source of excitement, producing fast bowlers who could send shivers down a batter’s spine, spinners like Abdul Qadir and Saqlain Mushtaq who made even the best look clueless, and batters like Inzamam ul Haq and Mohammad Yousuf, who played with a mix of elegance and audacity.

Remember Shoaib Akhtar running in hard at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens, dismantling Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar’s stumps in consecutive deliveries?
Or, more recently, Wahab Riaz’s fiery spell to Shane Watson in World Cup 2015, and Mohammed Amir running through the Indian batting line-up in the 2017 Champions Trophy final?
That was Pakistan cricket at its best, producing moments of sheer brilliance that only Pakistan seemed capable of creating.
We’ve already seen what happens when once-great teams fade away.
West Indies, the team that once ruled world cricket now struggle to even qualify for major tournaments. Sri Lanka, a side that played the most fearless of cricket in the late 90s and early 2000s, are now a shadow of itself.
If Pakistan go down the same path, cricket risks losing yet another team with a rich history and one that is passionately followed.
For the game to prosper, Pakistan cricket must rediscover its lost spark.

Stability in administration, a well-structured domestic system, and a clear vision for player development are crucial steps in reversing the downward spiral.
More importantly, the players need guidance, belief, and an environment where they can grow into the world-class cricketers they were once destined to be.
Pakistan must find a way to rise again. Cricket needs it—not just for its history, but for its future.