PCB's move comes after the team's 3-0 drubbing on the recent Test tour of England.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made domestic first-class participation mandatory for top national players in an effort to repair the country's struggling red-ball structure.
The move comes after the PCB faced severe backlash for Pakistan’s 3-0 drubbing on the recent Test tour of England.
Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and several other established names are set to feature in domestic cricket, with the board aiming to connect international players closely with the local multi-day setup rather than keeping them detached.
Speaking on Geo News, former Pakistan opener Ahmed Shehzad argued that bringing stars back is a good start, but the PCB must build a proper, supportive atmosphere and fix core structural issues rather than just chasing media headlines.
“There is no doubt that having Pakistan’s international players playing domestic cricket is a very good thing. But you also have to create the right atmosphere for those players,” Shehzad said.
He pointed out that the PCB has long ignored critical pillars of development, specifically naming player fitness, coaching standards, pitch quality, and player development pathways.
“These are things we have not worked on for a very long time. Some things are being done simply to show something in the media,” Shehzad added.
Shehzad also stressed that domestic pitches need to mirror international challenges like pace and lateral movement, else the purpose of asking Pakistan’s premier batters to return to domestic cricket would fail.
“The first thing you have to look at is where your national team is struggling. Pakistan struggle on slightly quicker pitches where there is some lateral movement. That is where their technique gets exposed,” he stated. “So you should prepare pitches that offer some support to the bowlers. Your batters will then learn how to cope with those conditions and how to play in them. Let them make their mistakes at this level and work on them here, because there is less pressure.”
“Don’t deliberately make those pitches flat. Whatever you are doing has to be done with a purpose. You start a tournament, but your preparations are not complete,” he remarked.
Shehzad minced no words and questioned the capability of current domestic coaches, stating they lack the skills required to properly groom young talent. He further emphasized that the poor domestic foundation leaves players unprepared for international cricket, making them unable to win matches at the highest level.
“Believe me, the players we used to have at club level were more competitive than this. They used to play better cricket than what we are seeing now. So what is the purpose of these domestic coaches?” Shehzad said. “Unfortunately, our domestic coaches are not at the level required to groom our cricketers and youngsters so that when they reach international cricket, they don’t merely compete — they are capable of winning matches for Pakistan.”
He claimed the technical flaws visible in Pakistani batters are direct evidence that the domestic structure is not correcting these mistakes early enough.
“The more mistakes you continue to make in domestic cricket, the further the Pakistan team will keep going down,” Shehzad said.