Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan who is now in jail, is said to be disappointed with his nation's poor performance in the current Champions Trophy, as per his sister Aleema Khan.
Pakistan, the host country, was the first team to be knocked out after it faced massive losses against New Zealand in Karachi and India in Dubai.
Speaking to the media in Rawalpindi outside Adiala Jail after visiting Imran, Aleema disclosed that the former cricketer-politician was most disturbed over the defeat of the team at the hands of India. "The PTI founder was highly saddened by the defeat of Pakistan against India," she stated.
Imran, who famously led Pakistan to its historic 1992 World Cup victory, also raised concerns about the leadership of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). He questioned the credentials of PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, arguing that favoritism in decision-making positions could ultimately damage the sport. "Cricket will be eventually destroyed when favorites are put in charge," Aleema quoted him as saying.
In the meantime, ex-PCB chairman Najam Sethi has indirectly blamed Imran for the deterioration of Pakistan cricket. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Sethi criticized the team's performance, bemoaning how a team that once dominated world cricket—ranked No. 1 in T20s (2018), Tests (2016), and ODIs (1990 and 1996), and winning titles such as the 1992 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy—has now been relegated to an underperforming team.
Sethi attributed huge structural changes made in 2019 by Imran's regime as the root cause of the decline of Pakistan cricket. During Imran's time, there was a new domestic cricket model introduced that eliminated the established framework of 16-18 departmental and regional teams and implemented a six-team first-class structure based on the Australian domestic circuit.
Political intervention and unreliability in PCB policies—such as sudden changes in the coaching staff, constant chopping and changing of the leadership, and intra-party disarray within the team—have contributed to Pakistan's cricketing malaise, Sethi said. "Player power, captaincy disputes, and groupism inside the team superseded professional management, and the disastrous consequence is now apparent," he added.
In spite of the dismal situation, Sethi feels Pakistan's cricketing fortunes can be turned around if the right people with integrity, professionalism, and expertise are given control.
Imran's time as Prime Minister also witnessed the appointment of Ehsan Mani (a former ICC president) as PCB chairman in 2018, then Ramiz Raja in 2021. But following the fall of Imran's government in 2022, Raja was succeeded by Sethi in December that year.
The controversy underscores deep fault lines in Pakistan's cricketing environment, with political and administrative choices continuing to affect the team's performance on the international front.
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