NEW DELHI: Pakistan cricket has once again found itself engulfed in turmoil, and former Australia opener Matthew Hayden believes the underlying problem has remained unchanged for years.Hayden, who has previously worked with Pakistan as batting coach and team mentor, said the constant instability surrounding the setup makes it extremely difficult for players to perform consistently. His comments came after the Pakistan Cricket Board made sweeping changes following the team’s second successive defeat to England in the ongoing Test series.“I really enjoy and enjoyed my time working with Pakistan. Nothing’s changed, though. You know, that is always the trouble. That’s not an environment, you know; a pressure cooker is an environment for the middle, not for all the other peripheral things that happen outside. And it’s just too difficult an environment to be consistent because this is the formula,” Hayden said on the Wisden Cricket podcast.Pakistan lost the opening Test by an innings and 103 runs before suffering a 194-run defeat at Lord’s. England consequently took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, prompting the PCB to overhaul the touring setup.
‘They’re always standing on one toe’
Hayden, who was Pakistan’s batting coach during their run to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup and later served as a mentor during their 2022 campaign, believes the country possesses enough natural talent to compete with the best.“Pakistan are always dark horses, because their natural talent is phenomenal. I mean, anyone who can see athletic ability can see that Pakistan has an abundance of it. The trouble is, it never gets focussed because it’s never allowed to get focussed. It’s always in chaos. They’re always standing on one toe, let alone two feet. So there’s no grounding,” Hayden said.He added that bringing stability to the environment was one of the things he enjoyed most during his stint with Pakistan.“And that’s, you know, something that I did enjoy doing in the short time that I was with Pakistan. It’s just getting things back on an even keel and not so frantic. So it’s very difficult for them,” he added.The latest upheaval saw seven players sent home, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Zafar. Jamal and Zafar had not featured in either of the first two Tests.
‘If Pakistan allows Pakistan to play freely’
Hayden believes Pakistan’s enormous cricketing base should make it a global powerhouse, but said the country itself is preventing that potential from being fully realised.“Pakistan is that like the West Indies, who I specially mentioned, I would especially mention Pakistan as well, because you’ve got 350 million people in one country that adore cricket and yet every opportunity, cricket doesn’t allow cricket to get played,” he said.“And that old saying, it’s just not cricket that is so important for this conversation with Pakistan. Because if you allow Pakistan and Pakistan allows Pakistan to just play freely and with trust, then they’ll take on anyone as simple as that because purely their athletic ability like the West Indies is supreme,” Hayden added.
PCB chief Naqvi defends the shake-up
PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, meanwhile, has rejected suggestions that Pakistan cricket is finished, pointing to improvements in the white-ball formats and arguing that even leading teams suffer surprise defeats.“Let me ask you one thing: South Africa lost to Namibia, and India lost to Ireland. Has cricket ended there as well?” Naqvi said.He also defended the board’s changes, saying: “If someone is not clicking or not performing, then what can we do? Every match and every series is important for us.”But as Pakistan prepares for the third Test, Hayden’s assessment points to a problem deeper than results — the continuing inability to create the stability and trust he believes its immense talent needs.
