Under-fire Team Pakistan invited more trouble for itself after losing the first Test of the two-match series against Bangladesh by 10 wickets on Sunday. It was Pakistan’s first-ever defeat against Bangladesh in the longest format. Pakistan, who were already going through numerous changes after their debacle in the ODI and the T20 World Cup, are once again in the limelight for all the wrong reasons. From wrong team selection to poor decision making, Pakistan failed in all aspects during the match.

Shan Masood and co are facing a lot of backlash from many former cricketers for their poor outing. Recently, former England skipper Kevin Pietersen also expressed shock at Pakistan’s dismal show. 

Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Pietersen wrote, “What happened to cricket in Pakistan? 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?”

What happened to cricket in Pakistan? 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?

— Kevin Pietersen(@KP24) August 26, 2024

Earlier, ignored Pakistan star, Ahmad Shehzad also didn’t mince words in his criticism on social media, calling it an “all-time low”.

“I haven’t seen Pakistan go this low in my life. Batting, bowling and fielding is a discussion for another day. But this is a new low in Pakistan cricket. It will be very tough for them to recover from this defeat. They haven’t recovered from the defeat against Afghanistan until today,” Shehzad said in a video shared on social media.

“I had said this before as well, Pakistan team is already heading towards darkness, so you cannot take short-term decisions. The situation is just like hockey. Even so, we never expected that Pakistan will lose to Bangladesh, but they have done that as well. Pakistan’s players are not at fault. The cricket board is responsible.

“Players never force anyone to put them in the team. It’s the board that keeps playing them and is not allowing domestic players to come in. If you don’t have domestic players who can replace the existing lot, then what have you done so far?,” he added, questioning the functioning of the PCB.

Former Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians batter Ambati Rayudu has been a man in the headlines ever since the Royal Challengers Bengaluru were knocked out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 campaign. Rayudu didn’t hesitate in taking a swipe at the Bengaluru franchise for the manner in which it is run while also targeting Virat Kohli in a subtle manner, suggesting it’s not the Orange Cap that wins a team the IPL title but collective effort. Rayudu’s most recent attempt targeting RCB came after the IPL 2024 final, where he got involved in a banter with former England captain Kevin Pietersen on Live TV.

Pietersen, in reaction to Rayudu’s ‘Orange Cap’ dig at Kohli, was caught calling the former India star a ‘joker’, with the incident going viral on social media. However, Pietersen has now issued clarification.

“Come on guys! This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down!

Example – @RayuduAmbati and I were messing around after the IPL final and all of a sudden that banter has turned into an avalanche of abuse towards Ambati.

PLEASE stop it?,” he wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Come on guys!

This tribalism with/against Indian players on social media needs to slow down!

Example – @RayuduAmbati and I were messing around after the IPL final and all of sudden that banter has turned into an avalanche of abuse towards Ambati.

PLEASE stop it?

— Kevin Pietersen (@KP24) May 28, 2024

Here’s how the full conversation unfolded between Rayudu, Pietersen and the broadcaster’s pundit after the IPL 2024 final:

Rayudu: When you have a stalwart and a legend like Virat Kohli, who has set really high standards, it’s very hard for the youngsters to be in a side like that and try and match his standard because he always wants the team to be performing at his level.

Pietersen: No, it should be good for youngsters…

Rayudu: But sometimes the burden of really trying to be Virat Kohli in a sport where you know nobody is going to be like him.

Mayanti Langer: But didn’t Patidar step up to the plate?

“Patidar can only be a Patidar but not a Virat Kohli, and I think RCB, as a management, understands that you cannot have 11 Virat Kohli in the team. You need to have 1 Virat Kohli with 10 others being themselves, having their own identities and strengths and weaknesses. And you need to use them well in terms of resources,” Rayudu said.

“You can’t expect somebody to win the game in the first season. You need to give him that leeway and time to grow into a match-winner. So I think the management has its task out, and even Virat Kohli needs to ease his standards a bit when it comes to youngsters, nurturing them, and letting them go.”

File photo of Virat Kohli© AFP

Kevin Pietersen had advised Virat Kohli to join another team in order to win the elusive title.© BCCI

It was a season to forget for Royal Challengers Bengaluru all-rounder Glenn Maxwell who couldn’t rise up to the occasion for the franchise. RCB were knocked out by Rajasthan Royals in the Eliminator contest on Wednesday, with Maxwell incurring a golden duck. The Australian all-rounder was shown no mercy by former cricketers and fans who asked some tough questions from him over his repeated failures in the league. After a string of poor performances in the first half of IPL, Maxwell even decided to take an indefinite break from the league, but the absence of other overseas stars like Phil Salt, prompted the Aussie star’s return.

Against Rajasthan, Maxwell was given the task of accelerating RCB’s scoring rate after the dismissals of key players like Virat Kohli and Cameron Green. But, Maxwell was undone on the first ball he faced from Ravichandran Ashwin.

Seeing Maxwell depart on the first ball, former India all-rounder posted on X (formerly Twitter): “What was Maxwell doing?”

What was maxwell doing?

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 22, 2024

Former England captain Kevin Pietersen, who was fulfilling commentary duty at that time, lambasted Maxwell on-air.

“What on earth was that from Glenn Maxwell?,” Pietersen remarked on air. “This is a huge game, you need your biggest players to perform, you need to give yourself a chance. That from Glenn Maxwell isn’t good enough.”

Even fans resorted to memes to express their frustration at Maxwell, criticising the marquee player’s shockingly poor show this season.

Glenn Maxwell pic.twitter.com/YNQcSUSXlU

— Desi Bhayo (@desi_bhayo88) May 22, 2024

Maxwell again today #RCBvsRR #RRvsRCB #ViratKohli #maxwell #IPL2024Playoff pic.twitter.com/4dbQzo5GOp

— QAZI (@koini007) May 22, 2024

Virat Kohli with Glen Maxwell in the dressing room pic.twitter.com/lHlgMmalGg

— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 22, 2024

RCB fans Maxwell ke piche : pic.twitter.com/F70n0vQIu0

— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) May 22, 2024

42 years old retired Dhoni in IPL 2024:

11 innings

161 runs

53 ave

220.5 SR.

HARCB blood maxwell in this IPL:

9 inns

52 runs

5.78 ave

121 S/R pic.twitter.com/JQSYXBk4UT

— RK (@MahiGOAT07) May 23, 2024

Maxwell wasn’t just poor with the bat against Rajasthan but also disappointed in the field, putting down an important catch Tom Kohler-Cadmore. Maxwell was retained by RCB ahead of IPL 2024 auction for a fee of INR 11 crore. Going by his form, it would be a surprise if RCB decide to retain him ahead of next year’s mega auction.

File photo of Gautam Gambhir© BCCI