Rashid Latif Blasts PCB After Lord’s Defeat: 'Worst Board in 70 Years'

Rashid Latif has never been one to pull his punches. After Pakistan’s 194‑run hammering by England in the second Test at Lord’s, the former captain turned his fire not on the players first, but on the Pakistan Cricket Board and its current chairman, Mohsin Naqvi.

The defeat, Pakistan’s second heavy loss of the three‑match series, has been branded in the British press as the work of the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years.” Latif did not flinch at that description. He went a step further.

On Geo News, the ex‑wicketkeeper launched a blistering broadside at the game’s administrators back home, arguing that the rot runs far deeper than a misfiring batting order.

“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.”

For Latif, the scale of the collapse at Lord’s is the product of a system that has failed its players long before they walked through the Long Room.

“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,” he added, laying responsibility squarely at the door of the PCB hierarchy.

Batting in freefall

On the field, the numbers tell their own brutal story. Across the series so far, Pakistan have not managed to cross 200 even once. In English conditions, against a high‑class attack, teams can struggle. But this has been a collective unraveling.

Babar Azam’s absence from the series opener had been framed as a temporary blow, one that would be eased the moment the captain returned. His comeback at Lord’s was supposed to steady the top order, to lend authority and calm to a fragile line‑up.

Instead, it only deepened the gloom.

Babar scraped scores of 8 and 6, never settling, never dictating. In the second innings, Jofra Archer exposed him ruthlessly, thundering in with pace and hostility. One searing bouncer left the right‑hander groping, his technique and confidence suddenly stripped bare under the Lord’s sky. The image of Pakistan’s premier batter fending awkwardly at Archer summed up the tour: outgunned, outthought, out of answers.

Off-field storm at Lord’s

All of this played out against a tense and unusual backdrop. The Lord’s Test had already been overshadowed by controversy after the PCB reacted angrily to Sky Sports airing an 18‑minute interview with Imran Khan’s sons.

In that broadcast, they spoke about the former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister’s conditions in jail, a subject that sparked outrage in sections of Pakistan. Reports quickly emerged that the PCB had even threatened to pull out of the Lord’s Test in protest.

The story swirled around the ground, adding a political edge to a cricketing crisis. Yet from within the camp, the claims were firmly pushed back. Both Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed publicly denied that the PCB had considered withdrawing from the match, insisting the team’s focus remained on the cricket.

The denials did little to mask the sense of chaos. While England pressed home their dominance on the field, Pakistan looked like a side weighed down by noise, scrutiny and uncertainty from every direction.

Latif’s attack on the board taps directly into that mood. For him, this isn’t just a bad tour. It is the consequence of what he sees as years of poor administration, flawed selection, and muddled coaching structures, now laid bare on one of the game’s grandest stages.

All eyes on Edgbaston

The series now moves to Edgbaston, Birmingham, for the third and final Test starting September 9. England will arrive there with the freedom of a side in control. Pakistan, by contrast, will carry not just a losing streak, but a barrage of questions about their cricketing soul.

Latif has already delivered his verdict on who is to blame. What Pakistan show at Edgbaston will reveal whether this team still has the fight to challenge that narrative—or whether this tour becomes the moment their wider crisis hardens into something even more damaging.