Pakistan cricketing legend Shahid Afridi reacts after Mohammad Rizwan-led side's poor campaign in Champions Trophy 2025. Defending champions and hosts Pakistan were the first team that got out of the tournament after losing their first two group stage clashes against New Zealand and India respectively. They ended their campaign without winning a single clash as their third group stage match against Bangladesh washed out due to rain.
After the team's exit from the mega event, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi said that he recently met Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi and the chairman told him that he 'doesn't know anything about cricket.' PCB are currently facing a lot of criticism for their poor outing in the Champions Trophy.
Everything from Aaqib Javed's coaching to his selection calls for the tournament is being criticized. For the uninitiated, Pakistan went in with just one frontline spinner (Abrar Ahmed) for the Champions Trophy, which Pakistan hosted.
Shahid Afridi believes that PCB chairman Naqvi should surround himself with people who know about cricket rather than bureaucrats.
“I met the chairman sahab a few days ago in Lahore. The initiative about the grounds, the work done at the Gadaffi stadium, is pretty good and pretty beautiful. He has worked, and he wants to work further," Afridi said on Samaa TV.
"But he also says that he doesn’t know anything about cricket. When you don’t know cricket then you should work with good, technical people who have some connection with the sport," he added.
Shahid Afridi believes that the PCB's lack of seasoned professionals has led to a decline in the performance of the senior team. He also raised the need to strengthen Pakistan's domestic cricket structure.
“The faces we are seeing in the selection committee and directors, they don’t know cricket, they have all been bureaucrats. What is their relation with cricket? Why are they sitting in the selection committee? Why are they running the domestic cricket system?" asked Afridi.
"Everyone’s seeing the Pakistan team. You should strengthen the domestic cricket structure. If the guardian is good, the child will automatically be good," he added.
After the Champions Trophy 2025, the Pakistan Cricket team are scheduled to play a white ball series in New Zealand where the Men in Green will play five T20Is followed by three ODIs. PCB already announced the squad for the series where Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam are rested from the T20Is.