Pakistan’s embarrassing exodus from the T20 World Cup, an outcome many of us had already anticipated, has once again exposed the deep structural rot within our cricketing system. Not only did we fail to qualify for the semi-finals, but even our last match against Sri Lanka showed how far our standards have fallen to beat even Sri Lanka by 5 runs.

The hope was simple: if Pakistan could improve its run rate with a convincing victory, perhaps a semi-final spot might still be within reach. Instead, we barely scraped through with a marginal 5-run win. It was a victory that looked more like another reminder of our long-standing and continuous debacles.

One recurring blunder was exposed in the era of decision-making; pushing Fakhar Zaman down the batting order. It was Babar’s insistence that he must open, placing personal preference over team strategy. Fakhar, a powerplay specialist whose real strength lies in the first six overs, was repeatedly forced to bat at 5 or 6. Sending him to open proved that he was earlier denied his rightful place as he hammered 84 runs aggressively. This mishandling has been a hallmark of our leadership.

And when Rizwan became captain, the story did not change much the same approach of "dosti yari eleven" (as people often say) continued, the same where Babar and Rizwan’s preferences overshadowed performance-based selection.

The destruction of Pakistan cricket was earlier ironically caused by Imran Khan who was himself an ace cricketer. During the 2019 ODI World Cup match against Australia, when Sarfraz did not follow ( his instructions to bat first (as per report from insiders) he was immediately removed and replaced by Babar Azam as the captain.

At that time, Pakistan was dominating T20 cricket, having won 11 consecutive series. But because of one ODI World Cup match the entire setup was also changed.

Then seemed to be another disaster when Mohammad Amir was forced to go back to domestic cricket and was asked to recover his 140+ pace first, then they would consider him without realising that Amir was deadly in swinging the ball even at lower speed. After that, Mohammad Amir announced his retirement.

When Babar became captain, he performed well as a batter only, and Pakistani public turned him into a pseudo “King.” After that, he gradually declined. Instead of controlling and guiding him, Ramiz Raja gave him full authority along with Rizwan and Shaheen to disturb the team according to personal choice. As a result, both Babar and the Pakistan team kept declining. No player showed improvement, and those who were once topping world rankings deteriorated rapidly.

In between all this, Ramiz Raja left, and a new race for captaincy began. Babar’s performance not only declined further but also faced repeated embarrassment. However, neither he nor his fans realised about the future of Pakistan cricket.

Meanwhile Australian star cricketer Shane Watson has recently raised a big question about the role of ICC as well. Watson said that if this was an ICC tournament, then according to ICC rules the Player of the Tournament should be given to the player with the most runs or the most wickets in the tournament. Watson agreed that Sanju Samson performed very well, but Pakistan’s Sahibzada Farhan was the top run-scorer of the tournament with 383 runs, including two centuries, and therefore the player of tournament award rightfully belonged to him. He further added that the ICC appears powerless in front of India, where even ICC’s own rules seem to have little meaning. Actually, the Indians also provided a batting-friendly pitch tailored to favour India. This never happens anywhere else in the world in ICC events who oversee and ensure fair-play at all other venues except India. They seem to be helpless before Indian board.

Coming back to our match against Sri Lanka, our openers Farhan and Fakhar did exactly what they were supposed to do. They put up an impressive 184-runs together, giving Pakistan an ideal start. But what followed was extraordinary in the worst possible way: not a single other player reached double digits. Nafay, Shadab, Nawaz, skipper Agha Salman, Usman, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah and Abrar scored from zero to eight runs with three going back for duck. It was a collapse that summed up everything wrong with Pakistan cricket; fragile temperament, no depth, no fight, no accountability.

And then there was the bowling. It was so ineffective that we could not even restrict Sri Lanka, a team many believed would not play at full intensity. Instead, Sri Lanka chased aggressively and nearly secured victory, comfortably crossing 145 and pushing Pakistan to the edge.

With a heavy heart I say I do not see any improvement on the horizon. The team selection for Bangladesh only deepens the disappointment. Shaheen Afridi who is continuously out of form is retained as Captain. Aqib Javed’s role in this regard should be reviewed by those who are at helm of affairs in PCB. Despite enormous embarrassment on the world stage, nothing has in Pakistan cricket.

Meanwhile, better players were left behind. The result was evident in the first ODI when Bangladesh handed over an embarrassing defeat to us by 8 wickets.

This decay is not accidental. Misbah, Aqib Javed, Wahab Riaz and Waqar Younis seem to be responsible for Pakistan’s recent poor showing.

I truly believe that Mohsin Naqvi’s intentions are good but intentions alone cannot fix a sinking ship. The fundamental problems remain untouched, and the leaks are not being plugged effectively.

The Chairman must begin evaluating performance with honesty and without political or personal interference.

It has been repeatedly suggested that Sarfraz should be brought back as saptain till World Cup 2027 and an able and competent vice captain should be trained under him to take over from him.

This may be a bitter pill for many but this is the only cure for present malaise.

(The writer is a former first-class cricketer. former Convener PCB Ad hoc Committee and former IG Police).