Mohsin Naqvi Stands Firm on Pakistan Test Overhaul After England Loss
Pakistan’s Test team is in pieces, the series already gone, and the knives are out. Mohsin Naqvi isn’t flinching.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman has stood firmly behind the sweeping changes made to the Test squad for the third and final match against England, calling the decisions “essential” as the tourists stare at a 2-0 deficit and a bruised reputation.
England have crushed Pakistan in both opening Tests – an innings defeat in the first, followed by a 194‑run loss in the second – to wrap up the series with a game to spare. The response from the PCB has been nothing short of drastic.
A ruthless reset
After the second defeat, seven players were released from the squad: Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad. Big names, big calls.
In their place, Pakistan have turned to the unknown. Five uncapped players have been drafted in, alongside Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, who between them have just 10 matches of experience. The fresh faces are Arafat Minhas, Mohammad Imran Jnr, Saad Baig, Mohammad Imran Randhawa and Razaullah.
It is not a gentle transition. It is a hard reset.
The overhaul hasn’t stopped with the playing group. The PCB has also shaken up the coaching structure. Mike Hesson has been appointed head coach and Ashley Noffke the bowling coach for the Test side, both already familiar figures from Pakistan’s white-ball set-up. Sarfaraz Ahmed and Umar Gul have been released from their respective coaching roles, underlining that no position is safe in the current climate.
Under fire, but unyielding
The backlash has been fierce. Former Pakistan cricketers, pundits and fans have lined up to question the timing, the scale and the wisdom of such sweeping changes in the middle of a tough tour of England.
Naqvi, though, has made it clear he is not in the mood to retreat.
He has brushed aside the criticism and insisted the moves were necessary given the state of Pakistan’s Test cricket. While acknowledging the dismal results in the ongoing series, he has pointed to what he sees as progress in white-ball formats during his tenure, using rankings as his reference point.
“I have never been afraid of criticism, and I never will be. Those who say cricket has been destroyed since I came – look at what the rankings were before,” he said, as quoted by Geo News.
Naqvi also hinted that his review goes beyond what is unfolding on the field in England. He suggested he is examining deeper issues around the team and the system, but stressed that this is not the moment to air matters unrelated directly to cricket.
For now, the focus is squarely on the Test arena, where Pakistan have been outplayed and out-thought.
High stakes at the Oval
The third Test, starting September 9, now carries a different kind of weight. The series is already lost. Pride, and perhaps the direction of Pakistan’s red-ball future, are on the line.
A dressing room stripped of several senior figures, a clutch of untested players, and a reconfigured coaching staff led by Hesson and Noffke will walk into a contest against an England side brimming with confidence.
It is a gamble. A bold attempt to shock a stagnating Test setup into life.
If Naqvi’s “essential” revolution fails to spark an immediate response, the questions will only grow louder. If it works, this brutal week in England might be remembered as the moment Pakistan finally stopped tinkering at the edges and tore the whole thing up.
