'When I Played PSL...': Kevin Pietersen Questions Work Ethic of Pakistan Players After Historic Defeat

Pakistan suffering a historic defeat to Bangladesh at home has led to widespread criticism with former players questioning the direction in which cricket is headed towards in the country. After the two teams posted mammoth first innings totals, the first Test in Rawalpindi seemed headed for a draw but for a remarkable batting collapse Pakistan endured in the second dig that left Bangladesh with just 30 runs to win.

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And they achieved that with 10 wickets – their biggest in Test history in terms of wicket-margin – to spare and are now on the verge of a historic Test series win in Pakistan. England batting legend Kevin Pietersen has questioned the work ethic of the current crop of players drawing comparison with his time playing the Pakistan Super League.

“What happened to cricket in Pakistan?” Pietersen posed the question via his social media account on X on Monday. “When I played the PSL, the standard of that league was tremendous, the players had a very good work ethic and the youngsters on display were magic.”

“What’s happening there?” he added.

This is the first time that Bangladesh have beaten Pakistan in 14 Tests having earlier suffered defeats in as many as 12 games.

The defeat will rankle Pakistan cricket for some time to come given it came in their own conditions and after they’d declared their first innings at 448/6.

Pakistan have been severely criticised for their decision to take the field without any specialist spinner and relying heavily on their pacers given the significant role Bangladeshi tweakers had on the outcome. Pakistan were skittled for 146 in their second dig with the Shakib Al Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz taking seven wickets between them.

“We had anticipated the pitch to offer more assistance to the seamers. Looking at the pitch, we expected it to do more,” Pakistan skipper Shan Masood said after the match. “If we played three fast bowlers, we would be pushing them to the limit and the spinner would be bowling 25-30 overs a day, which we wanted to avoid. We thought that with the weather, it may not even last the full 5 days. At the end of the day, we got it wrong.”