Former Pakistani all-rounder Imad Wasim has launched a blistering attack on his country’s cricket setup, saying that the national team is being humiliated on the field and mocked off it during the ongoing tour of England.
Wasim did not hold back when asked about the criticism Pakistan cricket has faced from former players and commentators around the world. “It’s embarrassing, isn’t it,” he asked, before adding, “So we’ve been bullied. So that is the thing.”
He drew a comparison with how other sports teams build long-term success, pointing to basketball as a model Pakistan should follow. “You’ve seen basketball. You always build the team around your senior players and you put one or two players, not even in England conditions, in Asian conditions, and then you groom them,” he said.
He was blunt about what he feels is missing at home. “There’s no player there, there’s no culture, there’s no system. It’s so bad to see Pakistan cricket like that,” he opined.
Despite his frustration with the system, Wasim insisted that the players themselves are not short on effort or national pride. “It’s patriotism. You fight for your country, you know, you get angry. You want to give your best, you want to fight against England, you want to fight against Australia,” he pointed out. But he was equally clear that heart alone cannot make up for a lack of quality. “It’s all about skills. He had no skills, simple as that.”
The one bowler he singled out for praise was Mohammad Abbas, who took nine wickets for 130 runs across the two innings at Lord’s. “The only guy who had skills and still has it is Abbas. He’s 36, 37-years-old, and God knows how many years they made him suffer,” Wasim said. “He should have been a part of Test cricket for 15 years. For the last 15 years, he has played how many games? Thirty, forty? He should have been a guy who had played more than a hundred Test matches.”
He was just as critical of the rest of the pace attack. “Other fast bowlers bowling 125, 130 clicks, which is wrong,” he said, pointing to England’s attack for comparison. “Look at England. They’ve got Ollie Robinson who bowls flat pretty much like a pace bowler. Then you have Jofra Archer, Tongue, Atkinson, they’re bowling 140 clicks. And now we’re all bowling 125, 130, 135 deliveries. You’re nowhere near.”
Wasim also questioned why Pakistan’s batting has left even its best bowler short of support. “Your batting lineup is so bad that they’re not even giving a chance to a bowler like Abbas,” he said. “You’re still not even close to winning a Test match. So this is a shame.” He added that the side has no spin option worth the name. “You don’t have any risk spinners, you don’t have any classical spinner in your team. How are you going to win it?”
He closed his assessment by turning the spotlight directly onto those responsible for selecting the squad. “What can a single person do? So, they should take responsibility, the senior players,” he said. “I don’t know who selects the team and who sends them, but is this the best Pakistan has got? That is my question to the selection committee and all of the people responsible.”
Pakistan travelled to England for a three-match Test series this summer and have already lost the contest. The Greenshirts went down in the first Test at Headingley before suffering a 194-run defeat in the second Test at Lord’s, where England wrapped up an unassailable 2-0 series lead. It was England’s first Test series victory since December 2024.
The two sides meet for a dead-rubber third Test in Birmingham, but the outcome of the series is already settled.
