Stuart Broad called Pakistan “a weaker side” and “very poor” on Sky Sports on August 18, 2026. He predicted England would win the three-Test series 3-0. The first Test at Headingley starts the next morning.
“Pakistan is a weaker side. There is no doubting that. They are very poor side.”
Stuart Broad, Sky Sports, August 18, 2026
🚨England should win 3-0 against PAK🚨
“Pakistan is a weaker side. There is no doubting that.They are very poor side.”
– Stuart Broad #ENGvsPAK pic.twitter.com/BqecpqeS2Y
— Indian Cricket 🏏 (@Indiancric1cm) August 18, 2026
Broad did not say this in passing. He said it with a camera on him, hours before a series begins. The retired fast bowler, who took 604 Test wickets and 67 of those against Pakistan across 19 Tests, chose the strongest possible language.
Not “out of form.” Not “struggling.” Very poor.
Pakistan’s numbers back the claim. They have lost 14 of their last 18 Tests and sat at the bottom of the WTC 2025-27 standings for months with a points percentage of 6.66.
Between December 2023 and July 2026, they suffered eight consecutive away Test defeats, the longest such streak in Pakistan’s history. That run included a 3-0 whitewash in Australia, a 2-0 loss in Bangladesh, and a 90-run defeat to West Indies in Trinidad where they were bowled out for 120 chasing 211.
The one interruption came in Port of Spain. Abdullah Shafique scored an unbeaten 160, Babar Azam made 88, and Pakistan won the 2nd Test against West Indies by eight wickets. It was their first away Test win in three years.
That single result is the only evidence against Broad’s verdict.
This is not the first time Broad has assessed Pakistan publicly. In October 2024, speaking at an MCC event, he said Pakistan “have not been playing the best cricket” and were “struggling.”
The difference matters. “Struggling” implies a team that could recover. “Very poor” implies something deeper.
Between those two statements, Pakistan lost at home to Bangladesh for the first time in Test history and were docked eight WTC points for slow over rates. Their captain Shan Masood lost 12 of his first 16 Tests in charge before being replaced by Babar Azam.
Broad’s language did not harden randomly. It tracked the decline.
England Are Not Dominant Either
Broad predicted 3-0, but England’s record in 2026 barely justifies that confidence. They lost the Ashes 4-1 in Australia, then lost a home series 2-1 to New Zealand in June.
They are seventh in the WTC with four wins and eight losses from 13 matches. One place above Pakistan.
This is the first Test of a new era. Ben Stokes retired from Test cricket on June 28, and Joe Root has been reappointed as permanent captain for the first time since 2022.
Marcus Trescothick is serving as interim head coach until Stephen Fleming takes over after the Pakistan series. England’s squad carries familiar names but unfamiliar structure.
Jordan Cox bats at three in place of the injured Jacob Bethell, who is out for the entire series with a knee injury. Dan Lawrence returns after two years away.
Jofra Archer is back and in form after finishing as Rajasthan Royals’ leading wicket-taker in IPL 2026 with 25 scalps. But this remains a team that lost six of its last nine Tests.
Headingley does tilt the odds. England have won their last six Tests at the ground, and Pakistan have won just once there in their history, in 1987.
Still, a 3-0 prediction from a pundit whose own former team is seventh in the world is bold.
Pakistan arrive with genuine questions. Captain Babar Azam was struck on the right hand during the warm-up match in Kent on August 14 by a rising delivery from Hampshire’s Manny Lumsden. He retired hurt on five. The same finger was injured during the West Indies series weeks earlier.
“Whether he plays or not will be a decision taken on match day.”
Mohammad Abbas, press conference, Headingley, August 17, 2026
Babar trained at Headingley on August 17 with a heavily strapped hand. Pakistan’s medical team will make a final call on the morning of the match.
If he plays, Pakistan’s batting has more substance than Broad suggests. Shafique arrives with a 160 not out in his last Test innings. Mohammad Abbas remains one of the most skilled seam bowlers in world cricket, and Headingley’s conditions suit his methods.
If Babar is ruled out, the same lineup that collapsed in Trinidad walks into one of England’s most hostile venues without its best batter. That is a different proposition entirely.
Insider Read
Broad took 54 Test wickets at Headingley and bowled at Pakistan in every kind of condition English cricket offers. When a man with that record stops hedging and calls a team “very poor,” he is telling you the gap between what they bring and what these conditions demand is too wide to cover.
Pundits soften language to stay diplomatic. Players who have stood at the top of their mark and watched a batting lineup unravel know when the problem has moved past form. Broad is saying Pakistan’s decline is structural, not cyclical. And two years of evidence says he is not wrong.
Also Read:
Chopra: Grace Marks for Pakistan in WTC
Amir: Babar Azam Captaincy Not a Good Decision
Woakes Backs Fleming as England Coach
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