Former Pakistan batting great Mohammad Yousuf has traced the national team's decline back to one of its most famous victories -- the 10-wicket demolition of India at the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.

The Durham paceman was dropped from the squad for the second Test at Lord's after he was briefly arrested and handcuffed by police following an incident outside a Derby nightclub on August 22.

Pakistan have ditched head coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and sent several squad members back home in a dramatic response to successive Test thrashings by England, officials announced Monday.

Former Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, who guided his country to their maiden Champions Trophy title in 2017, announced his retirement from the sport on Sunday.

Sarfaraz, who was the captain of the Pakistan side that lifted the Champions Trophy in 2017, wants the Men in Green to play intense but smart cricket against arch-rivals India on February 23, when the two sides face-off in Dubai.

"Double hundred. Double fifty. This duo of Yashasvi & Sarfaraz has been double trouble for England," cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar wrote on X

Tim Southee fell agonisingly short of leading New Zealand to victory in his first series in charge and the 34-year-old put it down to Sarfaraz Ahmed's dream comeback for Pakistan.

Babar Azam knocked a fighting hundred and the recalled Sarfaraz Ahmed hit a half century to guide Pakistan to a healthy 317-5 on the opening day of the first Test against New Zealand in Karachi on Monday.