ISLAMABAD - Former Test cricketer Iqbal Qasim has lashed out at pathetic performance of Pakistan cricket team against South Africa saying Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) must get rid of incompetent coaching staff.

Talking to The Nation, Qasim, who is also former chief selector, said: “The way Pakistani team entered the Test series, it was quite obvious that they lack planning and preparations and they never paid heed to train the boys on hard and bouncy tracks. I don’t think that there was much difference between South Africa and Pakistan team, as the only thing we lack was commitment and right man for the right job.

“The players selected for the tour were not exceptional ones and were lacking the techniques required to play in the long-version of the game. For me, the entire coaching staff is a super flop and they should now have mercy on Pakistan team. The PCB must get rid of them as early as possible as sacking these incompetent coaches is only solution to Pakistan cricket woes,” he added.

Qasim said: “In current circumstances, I couldn’t put the entire blame of Test failures on Sarfraz Ahmed’s captaincy. “Yes, Sarfraz could have done much better, but under such circumstances, I don’t think this Pakistani team could get out of this pathetic run in the Test matches. They need complete overhaul, if they really want to do well in the longer version of the game.

“After Champions Trophy, Pakistani team badly flopped in Test and One-Day Internationals. It seems the entire team management, PCB and selectors are fully focusing on T20 performances and paying no heed towards ODI and Test cricket. It makes no sense of sending national team for getting such bashing as it badly hurts all. If Proteas were superior to Pakistan team, we would have accepted that we couldn’t match them, but there was hardly much difference between the two sides. Had selectors not picked shorter-format performers and that too in a few matches, the results could have been far better,” he added.

The former cricketer said that Asad Shafiq and Babar Azam did produce performances but in patches. They were backbones of the team but they couldn’t live up to the expectations. Only Shahn Masood played with a lot of confidence and showed maturity while Fakhar Zaman’s technique was badly exposed as he can’t play short-pitch deliveries and can’t even leave the rising deliveries.

“I feel that if batsmen had done well, the bowlers would have also responded in style. In current circumstances, I don’t feel anyone can help Pakistan and put the team on winning track in the Test matches. If I were a chief selector, I would include Fawad Alam and Usman Slahuddin in the longer format as they could deliver for the team in the time of need.

“I always say that Pakistan team baldy needs express bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, who could bowl at 140 plus speed and terrified the opponents. Hassan Ali and others are good bowlers on helping tracks but they can’t bowl at fast pace nor bowl in the range of 140 plus on regular basis. We need to find some quality fast bowlers,” he added.

He said Yasir Shah was completely hapless during the tour. “The captain should have given Yasir confidence. Same was the case with other spinner Shadab Khan while Shaheen Shah and Muhammad Aamir also failed to spearhead fast bowling attack. Half-fit Muhammad Abbas looked completely ineffective and failed to even come closer to what he had done in the past.

“The team management took South Africa series lightly. They forget that our batsmen can’t play on seeming tracks and they should have conducted training sessions on fast and bouncy tracks prior to visiting South Africa, but all were sleeping. Now Pakistan team needs drastic steps to rectify mistakes and select well-balanced team for ODIs,” Qasim concluded.