Pep talk or pressure, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi under scrutiny

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Mohsin Naqvi has faced the bulk of the criticism since Sunday night’s humiliating loss to India at the Premadasa.

Naqvi’s decision to speak to the players ahead of every India-Pakistan clash has come under intense scrutiny, with several experts believing that this has created enormous pressure on the players.

He did so this time too, at the team hotel, after arriving on Saturday evening.

Coach Mike Hesson, however, didn’t agree about any “extra pressure”.

“The chairman’s a big supporter of ours and he comes along all the time and before games. So I think it certainly doesn’t add extra pressure. That’s part of his role. And that’s a part of us, our guys know that we’re representing Pakistan,” he said, trying to justify Naqvi’s move on Sunday after the 61-run loss.

Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar went on one such rant while on a panel show. “One guy who does not know anything has become the Pakistan Cricket Board’s chairman. What can you do? How will the team run?” he said on ABP News.

“The biggest crime in the world is to give a particular job to incompetent people.”

Naqvi, also an interior minister in Pakistan, had reportedly left the stadium much before the match had ended. He was, however, present in Colombo and was scheduled to speak to the players before departing for Lahore.

Shoaib also slammed the team’s reliance on an underperforming Babar Azam. “You have made a superstar out of a player who cannot win you a game,” he said.

Former captain Shahid Afridi has called for senior players like Shaheen, Babar and Shadab Khan to be dropped.

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