I saw some comments from Sunil Gavaskar about the Indian B team or the Indian C team beating Pakistan’s top team… Absolute nonsense: Jason Gillespie

“If the PCB, as a board, wants to change and get the right results, they need to get the right people, the right selection panel, and give players time to flourish and do their job. If you are hiring a new coach, give him the opportunity to do something meaningful, give him the time. Otherwise, the results are going to be the same,” he added.

Since winning the last edition of the Champions Trophy, apart from the T20 World Cups, where they reached one semi-final and a final in 2021 and 2022, their cricketing curve has been descending in ODIs and Tests. Since the World Test Championship came into effect, in three cycles their standing reads thus: 5th, 7th, 9th (bottom placed). In the 2019 and 2023 World Cup, they finished fifth, failing to even reach the semi-finals. And now in a 8-team Champions Trophy they have failed to get past the group stages.

Having gone about investing heavily on infrastructure for hosting the Champions Trophy, it appears Pakistan were never really ready for the tournament. Compared to their glory years, this is a team that is bereft of talent. Though they have historically relied on their pace pack, at different eras have had at least a couple of batsmen who were on par with the rest of the world, if not better.