Rashid Latif criticizes PCB after Lord's defeat: Worst board in 70 years
Pakistan’s latest defeat at Lord’s has not just cost them a series. It has ignited a ferocious backlash at home, with former captain Rashid Latif directing his anger not at the players alone, but at the very top of the Pakistan Cricket Board.
England’s 194-run victory in the second Test sealed a 2-0 lead in the three-match series and underlined just how far Pakistan have fallen on this tour. Outplayed, out-batted and out of answers, the visitors have barely laid a glove on Ben Stokes’ side.
The criticism has been brutal. Sections of the British media have branded this the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years”. Latif did not flinch at that description. He went further.
On Geo News, the former wicketkeeper-batter turned his fire on the PCB hierarchy, including chairman Mohsin Naqvi, the selection panel and the coaching staff, insisting the rot runs far deeper than a misfiring XI.
“Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years. 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,” Latif said.
He did not 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,” he added, laying the blame squarely at the door of the administrators.
Batting in freefall
The numbers behind the anger are stark. Across the series, Pakistan have not managed a single total over 200. Not once. Their batting has collapsed repeatedly, leaving their bowlers stranded and the contests effectively decided inside a handful of sessions.
The return of Babar Azam for the Lord’s Test was supposed to steady things. He had missed the opening match, and his comeback was framed as the moment Pakistan might finally find some backbone with the bat.
Instead, Lord’s only deepened the crisis.
Babar scratched his way to 8 in the first innings and 6 in the second, never looking settled. His dismissal in the chase was especially jarring. Jofra Archer dug in a sharp bouncer that rattled the Pakistan captain, exposing an unease against the short ball that England’s quicks were quick to exploit.
When your best player looks uncertain, the rest of the line-up tends to follow. Pakistan’s batting has now become the central talking point of the tour, and with one Test left, there is no obvious fix in sight.
Off-field storm over Imran Khan interview
As if the on-field struggles were not enough, Lord’s also became the backdrop for a political and broadcast row that dragged the PCB into another uncomfortable spotlight.
Sky Sports aired an 18-minute interview with Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, the sons of former Pakistan captain and ex-prime minister Imran Khan. The segment focused on their father’s situation and treatment while he remains in prison, a subject that inevitably carries heavy political weight back in Pakistan.
Reports then emerged claiming the PCB had threatened to pull Pakistan out of the Test if the interview went to air. It was a dramatic suggestion, one that hinted at serious tension between the board and the broadcaster.
On the ground, though, the team’s leaders distanced themselves from any such move. Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed both said they were not aware of any plan to abandon the match over the broadcast.
In the end, the interview aired, the Test went ahead, and Pakistan took the field as scheduled. The only lasting impact came on the scoreboard, where England tightened their grip and closed out another commanding win.
The series now moves to Edgbaston for the third and final Test, starting September 9. Pakistan arrive in Birmingham battered, their batting in pieces and their board under fire from one of their own former captains.
The question is no longer just whether they can salvage a win. It is whether anyone inside the system is willing to confront the crisis Rashid Latif has dragged into the light.
