Photo Credit: Instagram Photo of @souravganguly
Legendary Indian cricketer Sourav Ganguly didn’t hold back in his criticism of Pakistan cricket’s recent decline across formats. Pakistan has been under scrutiny after losing a home Test series to Bangladesh, marking a broader slump that has lasted over a year.
Their struggles began with last year’s ODI World Cup in India, where Babar Azam’s team underperformed, losing to Afghanistan in the group stage and failing to reach the semifinals. Leadership changes followed, but Babar was soon reinstated as captain in white-ball formats.
Earlier this year, Pakistan had another disappointing campaign at the T20 World Cup, where they were knocked out by the USA and failed to reach the Super 8 stage. Following the poor showing in the West Indies, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi called for major changes in the team, which are yet to materialize. The final blow came with Pakistan’s home Test series loss to Bangladesh.
Ganguly believes there is a “genuine dearth of talent” in Pakistan, a far cry from their golden era when stars like Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, and Waqar Younis formed the core of the team.
“I see a genuine dearth of talent in the country. Every time we think of Pakistan, we remember Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Saeed Anwar, Mohammad Yousuf, and Younis Khan.
“That’s the memory of Pakistan for us, but that doesn’t win matches in the modern generation of cricket. Every generation has to produce outstanding players to win, and when I look at Pakistan in world cricket — I saw them in the West Indies World Cup, in India during the World Cup, and now after the Bangladesh series loss — there is a dearth of talent in that country,” Ganguly stated.
“The people connected with the sport in Pakistan will have to look into it. I’m not saying this with disrespect. Pakistan of the old had some great cricketers, which I don’t see in this squad,” he added.
