‘What they’ve done is laughable’: Nasser Hussain says Pakistan have made things ‘even worse’ after PCB’s Test team shake-up

'What they've done is laughable': Nasser Hussain says Pakistan have made things 'even worse' after PCB's Test team shake-up originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Nasser Hussain believes the PCB's chaotic Test team shake-up has turned Pakistan cricket into a global punchline.

The former England captain clarified his recent heavy criticism stemmed from frustration, not mockery.

Hussain contrasted the current squad's surrender with the fight shown by legends like Wasim Akram and Inzamam-ul-Haq.

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PCB's attempt at shaking things up has only brought them more scrutiny, suggests Nasser Hussain

The PCB's latest attempt to shake up their Test squad has gone exactly as well as expected, turning the team into a complete joke. Instead of trying to salvage the final match at Edgbaston, the board decided to send half of their players home.

The team brought in their place is full of names who have not even received a single Test cap yet, a decision that has left analysts and critics even more baffled.

Add to that the fact that chief selector Aaqib Javed arrived on live television to point out how the entire world was laughing at Pakistani cricket, and you have got yourself a full spectacle. However, former England captain Nasser Hussain was quick to point out the root of these "laughs."

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He also didn't hold back on his criticism on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, torching the Pakistan board for making a bad situation significantly worse over the past 48 hours.

MORE: 'Resign or resist': Tanveer Ahmed urges Babar Azam to stand up to PCB

Nasser Hussain explains why his Lord's rant was born out of pure frustration

"I don't think after Headingley the world was laughing at Pakistan," Hussain said on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast. "My rant was before a ball was bowled in the second test at Lord's, about them not being mercurial, about them not fighting back, about India-Pakistan games being very one-sided, and they're a poor side playing poorly."

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He made it clear that the rant wasn't about laughing at the side or their poor performance. Instead, it was frustration at just how the mighty subcontinent side has fallen. "That rant wasn't laughing at them. That was our frustration with this great Pakistan side that we have seen play against," Nasser said.

For anyone who grew up watching Waqar Younis and Wasim Akram terrorize batters or Inzamam-ul-Haq and Salim Malik pile on centuries, watching the current side fold without a fight is painful. The former England skipper was quick to admit that.

"We kept putting film rooms of Waqar and Wasim, hitting us on the foot or on the head. You know Salim Malik getting hundreds. Inzi getting runs," he said. Hussain continued, emphasizing the deep disconnect between eras. Hussain was also quick to mourn how the once mighty Pakistan is being reduced to an afterthought in real time.

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"It's a frustration to see this great cricketing nation where it is now, and what they have done now is make them into a laughingstock," Hussain stated. "What they've done in the last two days is laughable. So I think a lot of the criticism was out of frustration with where this Pakistan side has got to be, honest, and they've made it even worse than the last couple of days."

MORE: Naqvi's tenure as PCB Chairman: How has Pakistan performed?

The Cricket News Opinion: Pakistan cricket is drowning in self-inflicted administrative chaos

The board's chaotic decision-making hasn't fixed the on-field product in the slightest; it has only destroyed whatever institutional credibility the setup had left. Sacking coaches and purging players mid-series is simply the sign of a panic-driven body that refuses to take accountability for its own long-term failures.

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The cricket world wasn't laughing at Pakistan when they simply struggled on the pitch. But thanks to the PCB's latest administrative masterclass, the joke is entirely on the people running the game. Until the board stops treating a proud nation's Test team like an episodic reality show, the self-inflicted humiliation will only continue.

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