Senior cricket journalist Osman Samiuddin has criticised the Pakistan Cricket Board’s treatment of its players, pointing to an incident where pace bowler Mohammad Abbas was reprimanded by a PCB media manager after a press conference at Lord’s, despite giving measured answers and praising the board.
Speaking on a podcast following Pakistan’s 2-0 series defeat to England, Samiuddin said the way players are being handled troubled him more than anything else from the tour. “I really genuinely feel really bad for all of these guys,” he said. “These guys are doing the best they can. They’ve committed, devoted their entire lives.”
He used Abbas as his central example. Before making it as a professional cricketer, Abbas worked as a welder in a factory in Sambrial without protective eyewear, an experience that affected his eyesight, and later worked as an office boy in a lawyer’s office to support his family. He made his Test debut in 2017 and has since become one of Pakistan’s most reliable seamers, though his career took years to gain the recognition Samiuddin believes it deserved.
“He comes to Lord’s 10 years after a career that should have been much more fulfilling than it already has been,” Samiuddin said, adding that Abbas has played 32 Tests when he “should have played at least 65.”
At Lord’s, Abbas finally delivered the performance that had eluded him at the ground for years. He took 4 for 73 in the first innings and followed it with 5 for 57 in the second, finishing with match figures of 9 for 130, the best by any Pakistani pace bowler in a single Test at Lord’s. The five-wicket haul earned him a place on the venue’s honours board, a landmark he had come close to on three previous occasions with four-wicket returns, including in Pakistan’s 2018 win at the same ground.
Despite the effort, Pakistan lost the Test by 194 runs, handing England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series after an innings-and-103-run defeat in the series opener at Headingley.
Samiuddin said Abbas answered questions at the post-match press conference calmly and without controversy, even praising the PCB, only to be told off afterward by the board’s media manager. “He answered perfectly well and without any controversy,” he said. “And yet, right after that, he gets told off by this guy who doesn’t know anything about the game.”
He raised a similar concern about spinner Ali Usman, who took a five-wicket haul at Headingley to become the first visiting spinner in 54 years to do so at the ground, and later batted for close to an hour in Pakistan’s second innings at Lord’s.
Usman was among seven players dropped from the squad for the third Test in Birmingham. “How does Mohammad Abbas feel?” Samiuddin asked, reflecting on what such treatment signals to players who give everything for the team.
The PCB has overhauled the Test squad and coaching staff following the back-to-back defeats. Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamir Jamal, Muhammad Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad were released from the squad, with Saim Ayub, Abdullah Fazal, Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran and Razaullah brought in as replacements.
Head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were also removed from their roles. The white-ball coaching panel of Mike Hesson and Ashley Noffke will now oversee the Test side for the Birmingham match.
The PCB has additionally issued notices to selection committee members Aaqib Javed, Misbah-ul-Haq and Asad Shafiq, seeking written explanations over the selection of Rizwan and Imam-ul-Haq for the Test squad.
According to reports, Misbah, the former captain has decided to resign from the selection committee.
The third Test between Pakistan and England begins on September 9 at Edgbaston.
