"What Kind Of Players Do They Have?" Dinesh Karthik Drops Unfiltered Verdict On Pakistan Team

The entire cricket world is wondering how far Pakistan cricket has fallen. Dinesh Karthik, a cricketer-turned-pundit, admits being both shocked and saddened by the decline of Pakistan's cricketing standards. Seeing the PCB make 7 changes in the squad and sack two coaches in the middle of the series, a plethora of questions have emerged in Karthik's mind, be it in terms of the players they have, the basis of selection, or even the way cricket is being run in the country. As the Babar Azam-led side returns home with a 0-3 series loss in England, Karthik had no qualms in suggesting that Pakistan are doing a 'disservice to Test cricket'.

Karthik, who is now the mentor of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team in the Indian Premier League (IPL), branded the current Pakistan team "very ordinary".

"When I did the England vs Pakistan Test series, man, this Pakistan team is very ordinary. In the first two Test matches, they didn't even play 90 overs across two innings. The wickets were spicy. It wasn't easy, but it definitely wasn't a pitch where you could not play 90 overs across both innings. I don't think that's good enough. I think what they're doing is a disservice to Test cricket, like what Nasser Hussain said. I quite agree with him because they made 7 changes [in the squad after the second Test] and made changes to the support staff [sacked Test head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul after going down 2-0 in the series]. In the last match, they competed," he said on Sky Sports.

Of the 7 new players that the PCB sent to England ahead of the third Test, one man who stood out was Razaullah Mashwani. He slammed a whopping 81-run knock off 63 balls, showing that even batters from Pakistan can stand tall against the English bowling attack. Karthik wondered why such a player wasn't a part of the touring team in the first place.

"Somebody like Razaullah, who actually did well in the Test match [the final one], why was he not there from the start? What is happening with the selection process? What kind of players they're having? The change in captaincy, the change in coaches, everything looks unsettled, and the performances are quite showing it. They didn't play [well] against England, it didn't feel like they could compete genuinely, and if I'm being honest, I don't think they can compete against a lot of Test nations at this point, which is sad.

"They have a rich heritage, like you say, in Test cricket, but they are nowhere close [at present]. And having been part of it, I must say, it looks alarming, and I hope the right people are taking notice of that and doing what's required to bring them back up to speed, which, at this point in time, doesn't look easy."

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