Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Monday that the board wanted to replace out-of-form senior players but had no bench strength to be able to do so.

While addressing a press conference in Lahore, the PCB chairman said the state of Pakistan cricket did not deteriorate during his tenure; it had been so for the past three years.

“The ‘surgery’ is imminent, but for that, we need a pool of backup players. We don’t have even 25 players in the bank. We do not have the data of enough youngsters that can be used in our surgery,” he said.

Naqvi had lashed out at the team management after Pakistan crashed out of the T20 World Cup 2024 in the first round, saying the team needed major surgery.

He said it was time to start looking at players who had been sitting outside the team.

The PCB chairman was also optimistic about the recently launched Champions tournaments.

“We have selected players for the new domestic tournament using technology. Nearly 80% of players are selected by computerised data and only 20% by human intervention. Nobody can challenge the quality of that selection,” Naqvi said.

He was confident that after the Champions Cup, the selectors will have enough players to make required changes,“ he said.

Pakistan’s cricket team has endured a tough time in recent years, with frequent captaincy changes, inconsistent and poor show on the field, and reports of internal discord making the rounds. To top it off, the team recently lost the opening Test match against the touring Bangladesh side by 10 wickets after declaring the first innings for 448/6, handing the visiting side their first-ever Test win on Pakistani soil.

Naqvi acknowledged the criticism that followed, admitting that the team’s performance was extremely disappointing.

He also received backlash from cricket fans who questioned Naqvi’s promised surgery.

However, Naqvi, who also serves as the Federal Interior Minister, said he was there to “fix Pakistan cricket,” and will continue to work on it no matter what.

“I will only quit when I accomplish my mission,” he added.