Inzamam-ul-Haq predicts Pakistan cricket's further decline, points to 'excessive changes' as contributing factor

Pakistan cricket has faced a series of crises in recent years, and former captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is urging the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past two years. In a recent development, Pakistan hosted the 2025 Champions Trophy, but reports suggest that the PCB incurred an 85 percent loss after spending INR 869 crore for their home team, which played only one completed home game during the tournament. Inzamam-ul-Haq's call for the PCB to learn from its mistakes highlights the need for better financial management and strategic planning in Pakistani cricket.

The news follows Pakistan's poor performance in the tournament itself. "We are not working in the right direction and making the wrong calls in many areas," Inzamam told reporters in Lahore, according to PTI.

After the performance in the Champions Trophy, Pakistan announced Saud Shakeel as their new T20 captain. Shakeel is the fourth player to be appointed in that role since January 2024, with Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan all coming and going before him in the space of little over a year.

‘Trust the management and the players’

Inzamam said that being a former captain and player he knew that when constant changes are made, it only undermines the players. "Instead of making too many changes, we need to think carefully about where things are going wrong. If there are constant changes, players won't gain the confidence they need, and the situation will remain the same," he further said.

The former captain also said he remained a big supporter of Babar Azam whom he described as a top player. "Babar Azam is a top player. Everyone goes through a rough patch, but the national team hasn't been playing good cricket for the past few months. Trust the management and the players, and work together to identify where the mistakes are," he said.

Inzamam warned that the team would continue to spiral downwards if there is no planning and execution. "I would think that the cricket board now needs to learn from its mistakes and not repeat the same mistakes we have made in the last two years. In the past two years, the performance of the Pakistan team has been on a decline. If we don't work in the right direction, we will continue to fall further," said Inzamam.

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