Pakistan cricket sunk to a new low at the end of August when they lost the second Test to England at Lord’s by 194 runs which sealed a 0-2 series defeat to the hosts with the final Test in Edgbaston yet to come. Angered by the defeat at Lord’s and the first Test loss at Headingley (where Pakistan lost by an innings and 103 runs), the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) slammed an angry fist on the panic button by dropping seven players from the squad, replacing them with seven others (including five uncapped players) and banishing their head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and his assistant Umar Gul.

Former Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has weighed in on the dramatic developments by saying that he was not surprised by what happened and that a PCB official had told him that Pakistan cricket was “on a ventilator”.

“The PCB itself was very disappointed by these people and they don’t expect anything from this Pakistan squad. The plan is to remove this squad and replace them with younger and newer blood. Players who just want to play for Pakistan. They are looking at the future now and they are working at it in the right way,” Akhtar said on the OutSide EDGE show.

Pakistan’s Salman Agha, second right, is congratulated by teammates for taking a catch to dismiss England’s Jordan Cox during the second cricket test match between England and Pakistan in London, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026.

He added: “In this transition, I just want Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Haris Rauf’s careers to be saved. These guys have a lot of cricket left in them.”


Akhtar said that he was speaking to someone from the PCB and asked them what they were expecting from this Pakistan team that was touring England and the PCB official had said: “Nothing. We have expectations from the next generation of players that we are preparing for the big stage.”

Akhtar said that the PCB official had told him that Pakistan cricket was on a ‘ventilator’ and it will take two years to revive Pakistan cricket.

Akhtar then said that he was in Lahore during the second Test and had visited the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and seen all the work that was being put in to raise the infrastructure at the facility.

“After 26 years, there is work being done at the academy now.”

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When asked if the Pakistan cricket team looked like it was in a state of shambles, a cynical Akhtar retorted: “What is the shock there? Didn’t you expect that?”

When the host told Akhtar that Pakistan had failed to put up a fight, he said: “We didn’t have the fight in us.”

Britain’s King Charles III with the members of the Pakistan National Cricket Team during an audience with the team at Clarence House in London.

The PCB had responded to the second Test loss by sending home Muhammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Jafar. Of these seven, the latter two did not play in any game but were still penalised.

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In their place, Saim Ayub and Abdullah Fazal, who have played for Pakistan before, and Arafat Minhas, Mohammed Imran Jr, Said Baig, Mohammad Imran and Razaullah were called up.

Also being dismissed was head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and assistant coach Umar Gul. Replacing them were Pakistan white-ball coach Mike Hesson and former Australia seamer Ashley Noffke.