Rashid Latif Critiques PCB After Pakistan's Lord's Defeat

The scoreboard at Lord’s was brutal enough. A 194-run defeat, a batting card littered with collapses, and a touring side that never once looked capable of crossing 200. But for Rashid Latif, the real damage wasn’t just in the numbers. It was in the system that produced them.

The former Pakistan captain and wicketkeeper launched a ferocious attack on the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its chairman Mohsin Naqvi after England wrapped up the second Test of the three-match series in ruthless fashion.

Pakistan’s tour of the UK has been a slow-motion car crash. Babar Azam’s team have been outplayed, out-thought and, at times, outclassed. British media have gone as far as to label this the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years.” Latif didn’t flinch at that description. He endorsed it — then went a step further.

On Geo News, Latif turned the fire away from just the players and straight onto the boardroom.

“Everyone is talking about the Pakistan team, and how it is the worst touring team in the last 50 years. But nobody is speaking about how the current board is the worst in the last 70 years. Nobody is talking about the worst selection committee and coaches,” he said.

He didn’t soften the blow.

“If you combine these issues, you will get the answer to your question. You will know who has ruined this team. Now you are losing consistently. This is the worst cricket board, that's a fact.”

For Latif, Pakistan’s humiliation at Lord’s is not an isolated bad day. It is the inevitable outcome of what he sees as chronic mismanagement — poor administration, flawed selection, and underperforming coaching structures. The players, in his view, are only the final link in a chain that has been corroding for years.

Batting in freefall

On the field, the numbers are damning. Across the series so far, Pakistan’s batting has crumbled repeatedly. Not once have they managed to breach the 200-run mark. In English conditions, against a high-quality attack, there is always room for struggle. This has gone beyond that. This has been capitulation.

Babar Azam missed the first Test, and his return for Lord’s was meant to bring authority and calm to a fragile top order. Instead, it turned into a personal nightmare. Scores of 8 and 6 told their own story.

In the second innings, Jofra Archer exposed Babar’s uncertainty with a vicious bouncer that made one of the world’s premier batters look uncomfortable, almost novice-like. For a player used to carrying Pakistan’s batting for years, it was a jarring sight — and a symbol of a wider malaise.

Pakistan’s batters have looked unsure of their methods, their techniques fraying under sustained pressure. The collapses have not been freak events. They have been patterns.

Noise off the field

All of this played out against a tense and unusual backdrop.

The Lord’s Test was overshadowed by controversy after reports emerged that the PCB had threatened to pull Pakistan out of the match. The trigger was an 18-minute Sky Sports interview with the sons of Imran Khan, the former Pakistan captain and Prime Minister, in which they spoke about his conditions in jail. The broadcast stirred anger in sections of Pakistan, and the story quickly spilled into cricket’s corridors of power.

The idea that Pakistan might withdraw from a Test at Lord’s — the sport’s most storied venue — sent shockwaves through the game. Yet from within the dressing room, the narrative was swiftly knocked down.

Both captain Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed publicly denied that the PCB had ever intended to pull the team out of the Test. On the field, at least, the game went ahead as scheduled. The off-field distraction, though, only added to the sense of a team and a board under siege.

Edgbaston looming

Now, England and Pakistan head to Edgbaston, Birmingham, for the third and final Test starting on September 9. For the hosts, it is a chance to complete a clean sweep and underline their dominance. For Pakistan, it is something far more serious.

This isn’t just about salvaging a tour. It’s about showing there is still some fight, some structure, some plan left in a team being torn apart at home and abroad.

Latif has already delivered his verdict on who is to blame. The question now is whether anyone inside the PCB is listening — and whether this Pakistan side can offer any kind of response before the series, and the criticism, close in around them.