'No guts, no fight': AB de Villiers pins the blame on Pakistan players after horror show in England

"No guts, no fight": ABdv delivers brutal verdict on Pakistan after England whitewash

AB de Villiers didn't hold back. The legend laid into Pakistan's Test squad after they crashed to a 2-0 series defeat in England, accusing the players of lacking the guts, fight and character to grind out results on soft foreign wickets.

The damage on the pitch

Pakistan got hammered for 171 and 135 at Headingley, losing by an innings and 103 runs, before going down by 194 at Lord's. Series effectively over. England call it. dv's read? Most of it comes down to mindset, not skill.

"I don't often see a lot of Pakistan players individually being prepared to put in those extra hard yards. Especially the batting unit. Not enough... guts. Fight," dv said on his channel. "Lots of soft wickets, and that's what it comes down to."

The character angle

Drawing from his own Test career, dv framed the format as a pure test of nerve:

"It's sometimes ugly and terribly difficult to watch. It was always about how much character I could show out here. That's maybe what Pakistan is lacking at the moment."

His prescription? An individual leadership group of 4-5 senior players who decide to be the example and drag the youngsters up. Right now, he says, that group simply doesn't exist.

Blame at the top too

dv didn't stop at the dressing room. He pointed to chronic mismanagement and constant leadership churn as a root cause. Babar Azam missed the first Test with a hand injury but returned at Lord's—and dv hopes that gives him the sustained run he needs to get back to scoring.

"Babar is back now. Hopefully he gets an extended run, stays fit, and starts scoring runs again like we all know he can. And his teammates follow that lead."

Bottom line: Talent's there. The fight, the leadership, the structure—that's what's missing. Whether the PCB fixes the management side is the real question.

Source: Crictracker