Struggling Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad has harshly criticized the older players on the team after they were knocked out of the T20 World Cup. In a widely shared outburst, Shehzad has asked the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to remove experienced players, including captain Babar Azam, top bowler Shaheen Afridi, and wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Rizwan. Shehzad said that these players have had plenty of time to do well and get better, but there hasn’t been any progress.
Shehzad also claimed that Babar is creating cliques within the team to support his friends who are also his teammates.
“Over the past 4-5 years, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Rizwan, and Haris Rauf have been regular players for Pakistan. They’ve had plenty of chances to show their skills. But because of favoritism within the team, they keep supporting each other and saying they’re learning from their errors. The question is, what exactly are they learning? They needed to win big against Canada to boost their net run rate. Yet, Rizwan made the slowest fifty, and Babar also played slowly. Pakistan’s cricket has suffered because they focus too much on personal achievements. They talk about leadership, but there’s none. They’re just popular on social media. They’ve had 4-5 years to get better, but they haven’t won anything significant. Their fitness isn’t good enough either. They’re playing politics within the team. They’re not at their best anymore; their cricket skills are actually getting worse.” Shehzad mentioned this during a discussion on Geo News.
Ahmed Shehzad wants Babar, Rizwan, Shaheen, Fakhar, and Haris Rauf to be taken out of the team.
Shehzad asked the PCB to take strong actions against Babar and his group, instead of blaming young players who haven’t had enough time to adjust.
“You are only good at making friends. Since becoming the PCB chairman, Mohsin Naqvi has made two big mistakes. First, by choosing Babar again as the team leader. Second, by making Wahab Riaz the main person who picks the team. He has been very unprofessional in his choices and management. You will be pressured not to remove these 7-8 players who have been part of a group within the team. If you don’t take action against these players, it will be unfair to those who will be removed,” he said.
Pakistan was eliminated from the T20 World Cup because the match between the USA and Ireland was canceled due to rain.
