Former PAK opener Mudassar Nazar blasts PCB for team's recent downfall

Former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar has blamed PCB for the escalating tension between senior players Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi, insisting that the board must provide its captain with ample support and time to assert his leadership.

Babar resigned as Pakistan captain for the second time on Wednesday, having previously stepped down last year after a disappointing performance at the 2023 ODI World Cup, following which Shaheen was appointed as the limited-overs skipper.

However, the pacer was quickly removed from the role, with the PCB reinstating Babar as the white-ball captain in March this year.

"It is our own doing (the friction between Babar and Shaheen). We shouldn't have messed around with the set-up," Mudassar told PTI on the sidelines of the 'Cricket Predicta Conclave' in Ajman, UAE.

"There was one set captain, we should have given him a longer term and if somebody else had been made a captain, then he should have had a decent go at it. And not been thrown out straight away."

The board is yet to name the white-ball captain.

PCB have only themselves to blame for Pakistan's downfall

Pakistan cricket appears to be in a downward spiral, having delivered lacklustre performances at the 2023 ODI World Cup and earlier in the T20 World Cup.

The 'Men in Green' also suffered their first-ever Test series defeat to Bangladesh on home soil last month, prompting heightened scrutiny from various quarters.

The 68-year-old lambasted the PCB for neglecting the mounting issues within Pakistan cricket, asserting that the board bears full responsibility for the sport's decline in the nation.

"It goes in a cycle. In Pakistan, yes, we are down at the moment. A lot of that is our own fault, the way we run cricket in Pakistan. Nobody has addressed the issue seriously. We are changing the cricket board after every two, three, four months, a year.

"That hasn't helped either. But I'm hopeful one day Pakistan cricket will come up and surely it will because before you know it, you get three, four new players who come in and start to make a name for themselves. And there you go, the Pakistan team becomes one of the top teams again."

The former head coach, who represented Pakistan from 1976 to 1989 and amassed 6,767 runs in 76 Tests and 122 ODIs while also taking 177 wickets across both formats, asserted that while the country possesses abundant talent, players are becoming lost within the system.

"Pakistan has got a lot of talented players. Especially when I was there, five years ago, even the net bowler was bowling in excess of 145. And something has happened, they have got lost somewhere in the system."

Virat will be remembered as one of the greatest

While comparing Virat Kohli and Babar Azam, Mudassar stated that the Indian cricketer is undoubtedly one of the greatest in the history of the game.

"I mean there is a hell of a difference between the two players. Virat will be remembered as one of the greatest who has graced the game. Babar has still got to make a name for himself."

The batting all-rounder showered praise on Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Kohli, expressing that he could watch the two of them bat for hours.

"I love to watch Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. When they are at the peak and playing well, it is fantastic to watch them. You could sit in front of the TV for hours and just watch those two play," he added.