Misbah Questions Pakistan Cricket’s Progress Due to Lack of Strong Opposition

KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq voiced his concerns on Wednesday regarding the national men’s cricket team’s potential for development, citing the infrequency of matches against formidable teams such as Australia and England.

The Green Shirts, who secured the T20 World Cup title in 2009, experienced an early exit from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, which was jointly hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America.

Following their disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan engaged in only three bilateral series with higher-ranked nations, namely Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand.

The national team participated in three matches each against Australia and South Africa in the preceding year. Additionally, they toured New Zealand for a five-match series earlier this year. Unfortunately, they were defeated in all of these significant encounters.

Since then, they have competed in two series against Bangladesh both at home and away, a series against West Indies, and a tri-series with Afghanistan and the United Arab Emirates, where they suffered a loss in the away series against Bangladesh.

While Pakistan has only faced three defeats in their last 14 T20Is, Misbah emphasized that consistently playing against weaker teams would impede their overall advancement.

He also highlighted the absence of regular competition against stronger opponents.

“Pakistan rarely plays against India and encounters major teams like England and Australia infrequently, while predominantly competing against smaller teams. How, then, will the Pakistan cricket team achieve meaningful improvement?” Misbah questioned during a local sports program.

Misbah’s remarks were made as Pakistan, under the leadership of Salman Ali Agha, prepares to participate in the ongoing ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025. The team is scheduled to commence their campaign against Oman on Friday.