Pakistan cricket’s off-field turmoil deepened through September 2026, as former captain Misbah-ul-Haq resigned from the Pakistan Cricket Board’s selection committee on September 1 after being sidelined from decisions on the Test squad sent to England, and the fallout from that tour continues to reshape the national set-up weeks later. By the time England completed a 3-0 Test series sweep at Edgbaston on September 9, seven players and the head coach had already been removed from Pakistan’s ranks, and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi’s broader “clean-up” drive is now reportedly turning toward the selection committee itself, with chief selector Aqib Javed said to be next in line for a reduced role.
Misbah’s Resignation Exposes A Rift At The Top
Misbah-ul-Haq’s decision to step down came after reports that six replacement players were sent to England without any consultation with the selection committee he served on, a process he learned about only after the fact. Misbah submitted his resignation to the PCB by email, according to multiple Pakistani outlets, citing frustration at being cut out of decisions that were nominally his responsibility to make. The episode exposed how much control over squad selection had shifted toward the board’s central administration rather than the formal selection panel during a series that was already going badly for Pakistan on the field.
Seven Players And The Head Coach Axed Mid-Tour
The scale of the shake-up during the England tour was unusual even by Pakistan cricket’s turbulent recent standards. Following the defeat at Lord’s, the PCB removed Mohammad Rizwan, Imam-ul-Haq, Salman Ali Agha, Ali Usman, Aamer Jamal, Awais Zafar and Khurram Shahzad from the touring party, alongside the head coach. Rizwan had managed just 61 runs across four innings on the tour and drew criticism for his shot selection at Lord’s, while Imam suffered a calf strain and did not bat in either innings of that match. Salman Ali Agha, the side’s captain going into the tour, was also removed as part of the same overhaul, leaving Pakistan cricket without clear continuity in its leadership just as the Test side suffered a third-successive defeat in the series decider at Edgbaston.
Background: A Pattern Of Mid-Series Upheaval
This is not the first time Pakistan’s board has restructured personnel mid-series under Mohsin Naqvi’s leadership, but the scale of the September changes — axing senior figures including a serving captain and a specialist wicketkeeper-batter mid-tour, then losing a selector in protest — marks one of the more dramatic examples. Naqvi’s tenure has been defined by an appetite for rapid personnel changes whenever results disappoint, and the England tour, following on from Pakistan’s already strained domestic cricket calendar, gave him another opportunity to intervene. The PCB has also opened an internal disciplinary inquiry into conduct issues during the tour, separate from the playing changes, adding a further layer of scrutiny to a squad that returned from England with results and off-field headlines both working against it.
Two Views Inside Pakistan Cricket
Supporters of Naqvi’s approach argue that Pakistan’s Test results — a fourth series defeat in as many recent away assignments — demanded accountability, and that senior players like Rizwan and Imam had simply not performed when it mattered, making their removal a reasonable cricketing decision regardless of the process used. Critics, including voices close to Misbah, counter that removing a serving captain and senior batters mid-series without consulting the actual selection committee undermines the credibility of the panel entirely, and that stability — not another reshuffle — is what a struggling Test side actually needs. Babar Azam, whose central contract had already been downgraded earlier in the year alongside Rizwan’s, said publicly that he learned about the squad overhaul from media reports rather than the board directly, a comment that has fed the perception of a chaotic, top-down decision-making culture at the PCB.
What Comes Next For Pakistan Cricket
With Misbah gone and Aqib Javed’s position reportedly under review, the PCB now faces the task of rebuilding a selection structure with credibility, at the same time as it manages an ongoing disciplinary inquiry and a Test side short on senior leadership. The next assignments on Pakistan’s calendar will offer an early test of whether the reshuffled squad and coaching staff can arrest the slide, but with a captain, several senior batters, a head coach and now a leading selector all departing within the space of a month, continuity looks like the most immediate casualty of Naqvi’s clean-up. For a board that has cycled through selectors and coaches repeatedly over the past several years, the events of September 2026 suggest the pattern is far from broken.
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