New Delhi, September 23
Former cricketer Kamran Akmal believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) "should learn professionalism" from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
India sealed the opening Test against Bangladesh with an emphatic 280-run victory in Chennai. It was almost a similar Bangladesh set-up that completed a 2-0 series whitewash over Pakistan a couple of weeks ago.
Kamran lambasted PCB for their lack of "professionalism" and claimed that Pakistan's cricket wouldn't be suffering if everything was working in order.
"PCB should learn from BCCI, their professionalism, their team, selector, captain, and coaches. These are the things that make a team number one and dominate the world. If we were so good, then Pakistan cricket wouldn't be here. It is because of your ego Pakistan cricket is suffering," Kamran said on his YouTube channel.
Pakistan's recent Test series defeat against Bangladesh has served as a reminder of the turmoil that they have been stuck in for the past couple of years.
In 2022, the Babar Azam-led side suffered heartbreak in the final of the Asia Cup against Sri Lanka. In the next edition of the tournament, which was held last year, Pakistan were knocked out of the Super 4 stage.
A couple of months later, Pakistan's slump continued as they crashed out of the ODI World Cup 2023 in the group stage.
Following the conclusion of the series, there was a wave of changes that hit Pakistan's set-up. Babar left the captaincy, and Shaheen Shah Afridi replaced him. Months before the T20 World Cup, he was reinstated as the white-ball skipper, but Shan Masood retained the Test captaincy.
During this period, Pakistan endured a Test series whitewash in Australia, losing to Ireland and England in T20I.
In the T20 World Cup, Pakistan suffered another setback after falling short against the co-hosts, the USA, in a Super Over thriller. Babar's side went on to lose against India, which confirmed their exit in the group stage.
Following the series of setbacks, PCB announced its decision to host a high-level Connection Camp on Monday, aiming to establish a clear and unified vision for the future of Pakistan cricket.
The camp will be attended by nine Pakistan cricketers, including Babar, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Shan Masood.
Pakistan's red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie, white-ball head coach Gary Kirsten, assistant coach Azhar Mahmood, and High Performance specialist David Reid will be present during the camp.