Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali claimed {that a} rift developed between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam over the captaincy, and that the scandal is the primary cause for the nationwide crew’s downfall. His feedback got here within the aftermath of the Lord’s Check, the place Pakistan misplaced by 194 runs. The Babar-led crew is going through warmth from all corners for exhibiting no battle and happening within the opening two Assessments of the three-match collection.
Chaos reigns supreme in Pakistan cricket, and the PCB has changed a number of captains and coaches. Babar stepped down as skipper after the 2023 ODI World Cup debacle, and Shaheen was made captain. Nevertheless, a poor present in New Zealand led to Babar reclaiming the job from the pacer.
Babar was sidelined once more after Pakistan failed to succeed in the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2024. A number of modifications have been made to the management since then, and now, there are three totally different skippers for various codecs. Babar leads in Assessments, Shaheen in ODIs and Salman Ali Agha in T20Is.
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Nevertheless, Basit Ali believes that one must determine the one that performed the primary position in dividing the 2 senior-most gamers of the nationwide crew.
“Babar Azam isn’t a robust captain. I’m not talking about this based mostly on the efficiency in England. He has made many fallacious selections. The primary cause for Pakistan cricket’s downfall is the rift between Shaheen and Babar. When there was a falling-out between the 2 over the captaincy, Pakistan cricket was ruined that day,” Ali mentioned on the ‘Sport Plan’ present.
“Many statements have been made, saying Shaheen is an excellent bowler and Babar is an excellent bowler. The rift, whoever created that, the unwanted side effects will be seen now,” he added.
PCB takes motion
On Monday, the PCB took inventory of the state of affairs, deciding to ship again seven gamers residence, together with Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha. Check coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul have been additionally not spared.
White-ball coach Mike Hesson will now take cost of the third and remaining Check in opposition to England in Birmingham. Whereas Babar continues to guide Pakistan in Assessments, Shaheen is nowhere to be seen as he finds himself out of favour in relation to red-ball cricket.
Babar was appointed because the Check captain earlier this yr, taking on from Shan Masood. Underneath his captaincy, Pakistan drew the two-match collection in opposition to the West Indies. Nevertheless, the right-hander has gone 4 years with out scoring a century in Assessments.
