Unimaginable: Imran

Former captain and legendary all-rounder Imran Khan expressed shock over Pakistan's defeat to Bangladesh, terming the 3-0 whitewash 'unimaginable'.

Bangladesh thrashed a woeful Pakistan by eight wickets in Dhaka on Wednesday to sweep the one-day series and leave many fans in disbelief.

Imran blamed "nepotism" in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and a mismanaged domestic structure for Pakistan's slump, termed by many former players as the "lowest point" in the country's cricket history.

Pakistan slipped to eight position in the International Cricket Council rankings after the loss on Wednesday, and stand just above Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

The 62-year-old Imran, who led Pakistan to their only World Cup triumph in 1992, said the rot needed to be addressed at the management level first and foremost before an overhaul came.

"Pakistan's cricket will not improve as long as there are people in the cricket board who have come through nepotism and without any merit. Sadly the people in our cricket board don't have any knowledge of cricket," Imran, who keeps an eye on cricket despite leading the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf party, said in an interview on the sidelines of the by-elections in Karachi.

"I never thought Pakistan would lose to Bangladesh 3-0 and drop to number eight in the ODI rankings."

Imran revealed that even the great Vivian Richards of the West Indies had identified Pakistan as the "most talented" cricketing nation but a poor system meant the team never realised its true potential.

"Based on my 21-year experience of playing cricket I know that no country in the world has cricketing talent as good as Pakistan.

"I am not saying it because I belong to this country. Even players like Sir Viv Richards used to say same thing about Pakistan. The best batsman of Pakistan at the moment is Misbahul Haq and he was given chance at the age of 34. Mohammad Irfan was selected at the age of 30. At these ages players are normally thinking about retirements," he commented.