Rashid Latif has turned the heat away from Pakistan’s players and squarely onto the Pakistan Cricket Board, branding the current regime the “worst” in the country’s history after another bruising defeat in England.
Pakistan were thrashed by 194 runs in the second Test at Lord’s, a result that handed England a 2-0 lead and the series with a match to spare. The margin felt even bigger than the numbers. Pakistan never came close.
The tourists have looked out of their depth all tour, especially with the bat, and sections of the British press have already dubbed this group the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years”. Latif, never one to duck a fight, did not flinch at that description. He widened it.
“Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years. But nobody is speaking about how the current board is the worst in the last 70 years. Nobody is talking about the worst selection committee and coaches,” the former wicketkeeper-batter said on Geo News.
“If you combine these issues, you will get the answer to your question. You will know who has ruined this team. Now you are losing consistently. This is the worst cricket board, that's a fact.”
For Latif, the rot starts at the top. PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi and his administration, the selectors, the coaching staff — all were in his firing line as Pakistan’s tour unraveled on the field and the criticism intensified off it.
Batting in freefall
The numbers tell a brutal story. Across two Tests, Pakistan have not crossed 200 even once. In English conditions that ask questions, their batting has had no reply.
Every innings has followed a similar script: early wickets, brief resistance, then another collapse. The bowlers have been left defending scraps, their margin for error reduced to almost nothing.
Babar Azam’s return at Lord’s was supposed to steady things. The captain missed the opening Test but walked back into the side with the hope that his presence would bring calm to a fragile order.
Instead, the anxiety deepened.
He made 8 in the first innings, 6 in the second. The dismissal that will linger came after Jofra Archer went short at him, a sharp bouncer that rattled Babar and exposed his discomfort against the rising ball. For a player of his class, it was a jarring sight — and a symbol of a team short on confidence and answers.
As they head towards the final Test, Pakistan’s batting is no longer just a technical issue. It is a crisis of identity and belief.
Off-field storm at Lord’s
The defeat at Lord’s did not unfold in isolation. The Test simmered with an off-field dispute that dragged the PCB into another controversy, this time with broadcaster Sky Sports.
Sky aired an 18-minute interview with Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, sons of former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan. The segment focused on their father’s situation and treatment while he remains in prison, bringing politics and power into a day at the Home of Cricket.
Reports then surfaced claiming the PCB had threatened to pull Pakistan out of the Test if the interview went to air. It was a serious allegation, one that would have plunged the tour into chaos.
On the ground, though, there was denial. Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed both said they were unaware of any such plan. Pakistan took the field as scheduled, the match rolled on, and England completed a comprehensive victory to seal the series.
The noise did not help a side already under siege. Neither did it change the result.
Now the caravan moves to Birmingham. The third and final Test at Edgbaston starts on September 9. The series is gone. The scrutiny is not.
For Pakistan, the question is no longer just how they salvage a tour. It is who, as Latif insists, will be held responsible for what this team has become.
