"The issue is behind the scenes in the way Pakistan cricket runs"- Nasser Hussain questions Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah's exclusion

Former captain Nasser Hussain has slammed Pakistan management for excluding the star trio of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Naseem Shah for the remainder of the Test series against England. The Men in Green suffered an embarrassing innings and 47-run defeat in the series opener, making it a sixth consecutive Test loss.

Babar combined for only 35 runs across the two innings, extending his dismal run in Tests to 18 straight innings without a half-century. Meanwhile, Shaheen and Naseem combined for woeful figures of 3/277 as England scored a massive 823/7 declared in their first innings.

The string of poor results resulted in the selectors excluding the trio in a shocking movie despite reaffirming that they had been rested and not dropped for the remainder of the England series.

Speaking to Sky Sports on the eve of the second Test, Hussain feels the issue was not with the players but more how Pakistan cricket is run.

"The issues is not Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi or Naseem Shah. The issue is behind the scenes in the way Pakistan cricket runs. In the paper, I saw there were 26 different selectors; in another it said 27. Nobody can keep count. How many have England had? Two or three, maybe. But if you keep changing selectors, coaches, captains - constantly shuffling leadership - it's impossible to plan ahead," said Hussain.

He added:

"No successful business or sports team works that way. When you operate with short-term thinking, you show up unprepared, and by the time you lose the first Test, you're already scrambling for solutions."

Shan Masood took over as Pakistan's Test captain from Babar Azam at the end of last year. However, the side hasn't tasted victory in his first six matches as skipper, including a 0-2 home series defeat to Bangladesh.

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"They shoot themselves in the foot" - Nasser Hussain

Nasser Hussain acknowledged Pakistan's financial challenges compared to the other richer boards yet pointed out how they often compound matters by shooting themselves in the foot.

Apart from the struggles in Tests, Pakistan has also struggled in the white-ball formats. The Men in Green suffered an embarrassing first-round exit in the 2024 T20 World Cup, including a loss to minnows USA.

"Their cricket and some of it, you give them a bit of leeway because of the way the finances of the world game have gone with the big three, and they're picking up the scraps like other nations are. So I really feel for Pakistan cricket and we mustn't be too harsh on them, but at times, they shoot themselves in the foot," said Hussain.

The second Pakistan-England Test will be played at the same venue (Multan) as the opening encounter, starting tomorrow (October 15).