Worse than a club team: Akmal

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal did not hold back in his criticism of the national team following their humiliating defeat to England in the first Test at Multan.

Pakistan, led by Shan Masood, suffered their sixth consecutive Test loss since Masood took over as captain last year, continuing a troubling trend in the longer format.

Despite posting a mammoth 556 runs in their first innings, Pakistan's bowling attack crumbled, allowing England to rack up a staggering 823/7. The home side's batters faltered under pressure in the second innings, managing just 220 runs, resulting in a crushing defeat by an innings and 47 runs.

Reacting to the loss on his YouTube channel, Akmal expressed disbelief at Pakistan's performance, likening the national team to a local club side.

"The world must be amazed by the way Pakistan lost. Nobody will believe this. Pakistan side has become a locality team. Even the club team doesn't perform like this. This is the current standard of our team. We win against small teams but can't even get close to big teams. The whole world is laughing at the Pakistan team," Akmal said.

Pakistan's first-innings score of 556 now holds the dubious distinction of being the highest total in a defeat by an innings in Test history. It also tied for the third-highest score by a team that lost while batting first.

Adding to the frustration, Pakistan's home form in Test matches has been woeful, with their last victory on home soil coming over three years ago against South Africa in February 2021. Since then, Pakistan has suffered home series defeats to Australia, England, and Bangladesh, with a series draw against New Zealand offering the only respite.

Akmal further accused the players of prioritizing personal milestones over team success and called for an inquiry to hold individuals accountable for the dismal results.

"Pakistan team have selfish approach. In our country, players play for their personal milestones and then think about the team. The captain should be asked who is the player involved in this. Inquire about this and remove the responsible person," he said.