Former Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar slammed the side for their poor innings defeat to England in the first Test in Multan. The Pakistan team set several unwanted records like becoming the first-ever team to suffer an innings defeat even after scoring 500 in an innings.
Pakistan have also lost five Tests so far despite scoring 500 in their first innings – the most in history.

Speaking on PTV Sports after the loss, Akthar was quoted as saying by NDTV Sports: “Fans are saying that Pakistan should withdraw from WTC. I saw some comments. ICC must be thinking ‘should we send teams to Pakistan and keep their Test status alive’. It’s just disheartening. This is going to hurt Pakistan cricket, fans and the upcoming talents. I want to request the PCB to sort out this mess.”

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“You will reap what you sow. Over the decades, I have seen the decline. The situation is disappointing. Losing is fine, but the game should be close. However, what we saw over the past two days, they completely gave up hope. This shows that we aren’t good enough. England scored 800+ and Bangladesh also beat you,” he further added.

However, Shoaib Akhtar further lashed out at the Pakistan management and captain Shan Masood for groups within their ranks as well, resulting in a poor culture. Pakistan’s latest defeat also saw them slip to the bottom of the nine-team race in the 2023-25 World Test Championship (WTC) table as well.

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“If your management and captain are weak, there will be groupism. If the captain is selfish, there will be groupism. Same is the case if the coaches are afraid of the captain. The captain calls the shot when it comes to selection. This has been the culture since my playing days,” concluded Shoaib Akhtar.