‘Always in chaos, standing on one leg’: Matthew Hayden’s stark verdict on Pakistan cricket amid recent turmoil

File Pic: Matthew Hayden during his time with the Pakistan team. NEW DELHI: Pakistan cricket is once again in turmoil and former Australian opener Matthew Hayden believes the underlying problem has not changed over the years.Hayden, who previously worked with Pakistan as a batting coach and mentor to the team, said the constant instability around the set-up made it extremely difficult for the players to perform consistently. His comments came after the Pakistan Cricket Board made sweeping changes following the team’s second straight defeat to England in the ongoing Test series.“I’m really enjoying myself and enjoying working with Pakistan. Nothing’s changed though. You know, that’s always the problem. It’s not the environment, you know; the pressure cooker is the environment for the centre, not for all the other peripheral things going on outside. And it’s just too difficult an environment to be consistent because that’s the pattern,” Hayden said on the Wisden Cricket podcast.Pakistan lost the opening Test by an innings and 103 runs before suffering a 194-run defeat at Lord’s. England subsequently took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, prompting the PCB to overhaul the tour setup.

“Always standing on one toe”

Hayden, who was Pakistan’s batting coach during their run to the 2021 FIFA World Cup semi-finals and later served as a mentor during the 2022 campaign, believes the country has enough natural talent to compete with the best.“Pakistan are always a dark horse because their natural talent is phenomenal. I mean, anyone who sees athletic ability can see that Pakistan has an abundance of it. The problem is that they never focus because they’re never allowed to focus. It’s always chaos. They’re always standing on one leg, let alone two. So there’s no grounding,” Hayden said.He added that bringing stability to the environment was one of the things he enjoyed most during his time in Pakistan.“And that’s, you know, something I’ve enjoyed doing in the short time I’ve been in Pakistan. It’s just getting things back in balance and not being so frantic. So it’s very difficult for them,” he added.The latest uproar saw seven players sent home, including Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Zafar. Jamal and Zafar did not feature in either of the first two Tests.

“If Pakistan Lets Pakistan Play Free”

Hayden believes Pakistan’s huge cricket base should make it a global power, but said the country itself is preventing this potential from being fully realised.“Pakistan, like the West Indies, which I specifically mentioned, is particularly Pakistan because you have 350 million people in one country who adore cricket and yet at every opportunity they don’t allow cricket to be played,” he said.“And the old adage, cricket is not so important for this conversation with Pakistan. Because if you allow Pakistan and Pakistan allow Pakistan to play freely and with confidence, then they will take on anyone as simple as that, purely because their sportsmanship as the West Indies is supreme,” added Hayden.

PCB chief Naqvi defends the shakeups

Meanwhile, PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi dismissed suggestions that Pakistan cricket was over, pointing to improvements in the white-ball formats and claiming that even top teams would suffer surprise defeats.“Let me ask you one thing: South Africa lost to Namibia and India lost to Ireland. Is cricket over there too?” Naqvi said.He also defended the board changes, saying, “If somebody’s not clicking or not performing, then what can we do? Every game and every series is important to us.”But as Pakistan prepare for the third Test, Hayden’s assessment points to a problem deeper than results – a continued failure to create the stability and confidence he believes his immense talents need.