AB de Villiers has delivered a blunt verdict on Pakistan's dire Test series in England, laying the blame firmly at the players' feet while also acknowledging the role of persistent mismanagement at board level in the team's decline.

Pakistan were hammered in both opening Tests, losing at Headingley by an innings and 103 runs before going down by 194 runs at Lord's, with the first match ending inside three days and the second extending to a fourth day only because of rain. In four innings across both matches, Pakistan failed to breach 200 even once.

The Pakistan Cricket Board responded by sending seven players home, including Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Rizwan, Salman Agha, Ali Usman, Khurram Shahzad, Aamir Jamal and Muhammad Awais Jafar, replacing them with younger options including five uncapped players, and axing Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed in favour of white-ball coach Mike Hesson ahead of the third and final Test in Birmingham.

Imam's departure has since taken on a more serious dimension, with the PCB demanding an investigation into whether his calf injury, sustained on the opening day of the Lord's Test, was genuine. He did not return to bat in either innings as Pakistan lost by 194 runs.

When Imam was seen practising batting with his calf taped on the fourth morning, former players Stuart Broad and David Warner publicly accused him of putting on an act, with allegations also emerging that he had faked injuries in the past.

Sources have since confirmed to Pakistani media that he could face a ban of between one and two years.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, de Villiers singled out the batting unit for particular criticism, questioning whether players were willing to put in the work required at Test level.

"I don't often currently see a lot of Pakistan players individually being prepared to put in those extra hard yards. Especially with the batting unit. Not enough, what's the word, guts. Fight. It doesn't always have to be pretty. Lots of soft wickets, and that's what it comes down to. It's a decision that you make," he said.

The former South Africa captain drew on his own experience to illustrate the mindset he felt was missing.

"It was always about how much character I could show out here today. It always felt like a threat to my character from the opposition. If I played for my ego, I probably would have been a different player".

De Villiers called for a small group of senior players to step up and set an example for the rest of the squad.

"I always felt that Test cricket was a test of your character. That's maybe what Pakistan is lacking at the moment. An individual leadership group of four or five players who decide together, let's be the leaders here and show the guys. Show the youngsters what it takes to win Test matches," he said.

He did not absolve the board of responsibility, pointing to years of repeated changes in coaching and captaincy as a contributing factor.

"Also, a bit of mismanagement from the top. Lots of chopping and changing. Lots of changes in leadership," he said, before expressing hope that Babar Azam, recently reinstated as captain, would be given an extended run.

"Hopefully he gets an extended run, stays fit, and starts scoring runs again like we all know he can. And for his fellow teammates to start following that lead," he added.

Pakistan face England in the third and final Test in Birmingham, their last chance to salvage something from a series that has exposed deep-seated problems both on and off the field.