Former Pakistan cricketers slam performance against England at Old Trafford

Hosts achieve a massive 330-run margin victory in second Test to level the series

Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar, alongside veterans Ramiz Raja, Muhammad Yousuf, Waqar Younis, and Hanif Mohammad, criticised the national team’s dismal performance on Monday in the second Test against England.

The hosts defeated Pakistan by a massive 330-run margin to win at Old Trafford.

Akhtar said that he was very disappointed with the overall performance of the team, who were badly exposed by English players. “One saw no planning in the entire match from Pakistan’s perspective and as expected our batting was badly exposed by their bowlers,” he said. “You can also say our batting has been unmasked and exposed on a pitch which had bounce and nothing more.”



The former fast-bowler added that Pakistan would find it very difficult to comeback in the series after such a demoralising defeat.

Likewise, 1992 World Cup winner Ramiz Raja said the defeat was just a continuation of Pakistan cricket’s woes. “Our biggest problem is that our players just don’t adapt quickly enough to different conditions,” he said. “And the problem of consistency remains as usual.”

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator believed that the hosts deserved the win because they were better prepared. “England just came better prepared this time because at Lord’s the conditions suited Pakistan due to low bounce,” he said. “At Old Trafford they made sure there was plenty of bounce in the surface.”



Former Test batsman Muhammad Yousuf also lamented the lack of quality shown by Pakistan on a batting pitch. “I expected players of the calibre of Younus Khan and Asad Shafiq to get hundreds here,” he said. “I just can’t fathom what Younus [Khan] was trying to do, batting the way he did.”

Ex-head coach Waqar Younis said that there was no excuse for the batting shambles. “I am not saying we should have won this Test, but this is not the way to go down,” he said. “The spineless batting would have given the England bowlers a lot of confidence now.”



Similarly, Pakistan legend Hanif Muhammad had a word of advice for Younus, who is Pakistan’s highest Test run-getter. “At his age, he shouldn’t try to change his technique,” he said. “He will find it hard to adjust himself.”

This article originally appeared on Press Trust of India