‘I fear for them’ – pundits lament ‘desperate times’ for PakistanFigure caption, Highlights: England ease to huge win against Pakistan on day three at HeadingleyByMatthew HenryBBC Sport journalist at HeadingleyPublished25 minutes agoFormer England captain Michael Vaughan says he “really fears” for Pakistan and felt “quite sad” watching their heavy defeat by England in the first Test at Headingley.Pakistan were thrashed by an innings and 103 runs in the series opener – batting for 85.4 overs across both innings combined.
A side that has produced some of the sport’s most fearsome bowlers were also meek with the ball and poor in the field.
“They’ve been absolutely blown away,” Vaughan told BBC Test Match Special. “They’ve been hammered. I’ve never seen them look so timid.
“The tactical side wasn’t there. The skill level and the class between the sides, Pakistan look a long way short.
“I hope they can find something over the next couple of days.
“They’ll get criticised and rightly so, hopefully that will force them to find something.”
Pakistan have long been known for their turmoil off the field and their current struggles were perhaps best summed up in the post-match news conference.
Stand-in skipper Salman Agha laughed he is “more than happy” to hand the captaincy back to Babar Azam for the second Test, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday.
A decade ago they were top of the Test rankings while iconic teams in the late 1980s and 1990s, featuring all-time greats such as Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, won three Test series in a row in England.
Now they are bottom of the World Test Championship, have lost five of their past six Tests and 14 defeats from 19 Tests going back to December 2023.
Former captain Ramiz Raja told TMS he “fears the worst”.
“The first pillar has fallen, and that’s the fans, they are disenchanted, they aren’t going to back this team and who would?” Raja reported.
“If you lose 17 Test matches in the last 20 you’ve played nobody’s going to back this team.”
Vaughan added: “I look at this side and feel quite sad watching them this week.
“I’ve seen many Pakistan sides play and this side just seem to be lacking all that spirit and fight we’ve come accustomed to seeing.”
