Pakistan loses and loses again — what’s going on?

Nearly a month after winning in dominant fashion to level the series in the West Indies, Pakistan has reached another low. Dare I say a familiar low.

The new-age Pakistan has lost the charm of the energetic, passionate Pakistan in the ‘90s and 2000s. Gone are the days of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar. Babar Azam and co. seem to be struggling in the same guise that the team has faltered in the recent past.

Down 1-0 and having suffered an innings defeat against England, Pakistan came out ready to turn the series around at Lord’s. England won by 194 runs, with Pakistan failing to reach the 200 mark in any of their four innings on English soil, despite England doing so all three times.

Pakistan began the second test promisingly, reducing England to three down for just 36, and 77/4 soon after. With Root and Brook out, many Pakistani faithful hoped for a collapse. Instead, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson followed up Jordan Cox’s fifty with valuable contributions each, before Josh Tongue’s 30 (48) helped England reach an above-par 290 on a tricky pitch.

Pakistan never got going in their first innings, with Azan Awais’s 46 and Saud Shakeel’s 16 the only double-digit scores. Pakistan slipped to a 180-run deficit.

With runs on the board, anything bar a catastrophe would likely be enough for England to seal the series. Dan Lawrence’s 54 (70), combined with several other contributions, gave Pakistan a daunting target of 388 on a fast-bowling friendly pitch.

Mohammad Abbas was a rare bright spot for Pakistan, with impressive figures of 5-57 in 22.0 overs.

Pakistan fell early. An ugly swipe against a Jofra Archer bouncer brought Babar Azam back through the long room, leaving Pakistan 14/3. A promising but streaky partnership between Shan Masood and Saud Shakeel took Pakistan to the triple nelson (111), but Saud Shakeel’s 97 was not enough to save Pakistan from just doubling his score, ending at 194 to lose by the same margin.

Pakistan faces England next on September 9th in Birmingham and will have to conjure up a special comeback to come back with something to their name.

As for Babar Azam’s return to captaincy, four matches have resulted in three losses. Not yet a sample size large enough to criticize, but an abysmal 16.67% in the 2025-27 World Test Championship Cycle reflects the overall fallout of the cricket-impassioned country.