Rashid Latif Critiques PCB After Lord’s Defeat: 'Worst Board in 70 Years'

Pakistan did not just lose a Test match at Lord’s. They lost their patience back home.

A 194-run defeat to England in the second Test, sealing the series 2-0 with a match to spare, has triggered a ferocious backlash. At the front of it stands former captain Rashid Latif, who has turned the spotlight away from the players and straight onto the Pakistan Cricket Board and its leadership.

‘Worst team in 50 years? Worst board in 70’

As Pakistan’s tour unraveled, parts of the British media branded this side the “worst Pakistan side in the last 50 years.” Latif did not flinch at that description. He widened the charge.

“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 on Geo News, his words cutting through the post-match autopsy.

He did not spare anyone in the hierarchy.

“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,” he added, directly challenging PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the entire structure around the national side.

At Lord’s, the numbers on the scoreboard only underlined his anger. Pakistan, outplayed in the first Test, offered even less resistance in the second. England’s 2-0 lead in the three-match series feels bigger than the scoreline suggests.

Batting in freefall

The heart of the crisis is with the bat. Pakistan have not reached 200 once in the series. Not once. On English pitches that have rewarded discipline and courage, their top order has repeatedly folded, leaving bowlers chasing lost causes.

Babar Azam’s return at Lord’s was supposed to steady the ship. The captain missed the opening Test, and his comeback carried the quiet hope that a world-class batter might restore some order.

Instead, the slide continued.

Babar managed just 8 and 6, a pair of brief, anxious stays that did nothing to calm the dressing room. His second-innings dismissal told its own story: Jofra Archer banged in a sharp bouncer, Babar looked unsettled, then undone. For a player of his stature to appear so uncomfortable against the short ball only deepened the sense of unease.

Around him, the collapses have become predictable. Pakistan’s batters have looked tentative, unsure whether to fight fire with fire or retreat into survival mode. They have ended up doing neither, and the scorecards reflect that confusion.

As the team heads towards the final Test, the questions are no longer just about form. They are about method, selection, coaching, and the direction of the entire setup – exactly the issues Latif hammered in his broadside.

Lord’s under a different cloud

The cricket at Lord’s was not the only talking point. The Test carried a political and emotional charge off the field as well.

Sky Sports aired an 18-minute interview with Sulaiman and Kasim Khan, the sons of former Pakistan captain and prime minister Imran Khan. In the segment, they spoke about their father’s situation and treatment while he remains in prison, bringing Pakistan’s turbulent politics into the global broadcast from the sport’s most traditional venue.

Reports then surfaced that the PCB had threatened to pull Pakistan out of the Test if the interview went on air. It was a serious allegation, one that suggested a possible clash between boardroom pressure and a broadcaster’s editorial choices.

On the ground, though, the team distanced itself from any such move. Babar Azam and head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed both said they were not aware of any plan to abandon the match. The players walked out as scheduled, the Test ran its course, and England completed a comprehensive victory.

The controversy did not change the result. It did, however, add another layer of tension around a tour already creaking under criticism.

Edgbaston awaits

From Lord’s, the series now shifts to Birmingham. The third and final Test at Edgbaston begins on September 9, with England already out of reach and Pakistan searching for something more basic than a consolation win: credibility.

For the players, it is one last chance on this tour to show some resistance, to prove they are better than the “worst in 50 years” tag being thrown at them.

For the PCB, under the glare of Rashid Latif’s accusations and a furious public, the stakes are even higher. If the slide continues at Edgbaston, how long can the board keep insisting the problem lies only out in the middle, and not in the corridors of power that picked and prepared this team?