Rashid Latif has never been one to pull his punches. After Pakistan’s 194‑run hammering at Lord’s, the former captain turned his fire not on the players alone, but on the Pakistan Cricket Board and its chairman Mohsin Naqvi, accusing the current regime of presiding over the “worst board in the last 70 years”.
Pakistan’s tour of England has unravelled at alarming speed. Babar Azam’s side have failed to compete across the first two Tests of the three-match series, looking bereft of belief, runs and resistance. British media have branded this group the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years”. Latif did not flinch at that description – he broadened it.
On Geo News, the ex-wicketkeeper-batter launched a blistering assessment of the setup behind the team.
“Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years,” Latif said. “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.”
He didn’t stop there.
“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.”
A batting lineup in freefall
On the field, the numbers tell their own grim story. Across the series so far, Pakistan have not crossed 200 even once. In English conditions, against a high-quality attack, struggles are understandable. This has been something else: collapses without fight, innings without anchors, a top order that keeps walking back long before the second new ball.
Babar’s absence from the first Test offered a thin alibi. His return at Lord’s was supposed to steady the batting and restore some authority at the crease. Instead, it deepened the sense of crisis.
The captain scraped scores of 8 and 6, looking nothing like the player who has so often carried Pakistan’s batting on his shoulders. In the second innings, Jofra Archer exposed him brutally. A vicious bouncer left Babar groping, all at sea against pace and hostility, a scene that captured Pakistan’s wider vulnerability on this tour.
Every time Pakistan seemed ready to dig in, the innings lurched again. Edges flew, judgement deserted them, and the scoreboard crept rather than climbed. The gap between the sides at Lord’s was not just 194 runs. It felt like a gulf in planning, confidence and cricketing direction.
Storm off the field
The Lord’s Test did not unfold in a vacuum. It played out under a cloud of off-field tension after Sky Sports aired an 18-minute interview with the sons of Imran Khan. In that segment, they spoke about the former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister’s condition in jail, comments that provoked a fierce reaction back home.
Reports quickly surfaced that the PCB had threatened to pull Pakistan out of the Lord’s Test in protest. The notion that the team might abandon a match at the sport’s most iconic venue sent shockwaves through the game.
Inside the camp, though, the line was different. Both Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed publicly denied that the PCB had considered withdrawing from the Test, insisting the team’s focus remained on cricket. Whatever the truth behind the scenes, the noise around the board only amplified the sense of a setup under strain.
Latif’s broadside tapped directly into that mood. For him, the conversation cannot stop at dropped catches and misjudged leaves. It must include the men who pick the squads, hire the coaches and shape the environment in which this team operates.
Edgbaston looming
There is still one Test left, at Edgbaston in Birmingham from September 9. On paper, it offers a final chance to salvage something from a bruising tour. In reality, it looks like a test of character as much as technique.
England, buoyant and ruthless, will sense an opportunity to complete a clean sweep. Pakistan, reeling and under fire from one of their own most outspoken former captains, must find a response.
Latif has already delivered his verdict on who shoulders the blame. The question now is whether those in charge – on the field and above it – can produce anything at Edgbaston to challenge the idea that this is a team, and a board, in freefall.
