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 main reason for the national team’s downfall. His comments came in the aftermath of the Lord’s Test, where Pakistan lost by 194 runs. The Babar-led team is facing heat from all corners for showing no fight and going down in the opening two Tests of the three-match series.
Chaos reigns supreme in Pakistan cricket, and the PCB has replaced multiple captains and coaches. Babar stepped down as skipper after the 2023 ODI World Cup debacle, and Shaheen was made captain. However, a poor show in New Zealand led to Babar reclaiming the job from the pacer.
Babar was sidelined again after Pakistan failed to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2024. Multiple changes have been made to the leadership since then, and now, there are three different skippers for different formats. Babar leads in Tests, Shaheen in ODIs and Salman Ali Agha in T20Is.
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However, Basit Ali believes that one needs to identify the person who played the main role in dividing the two senior-most players of the national team.
“Babar Azam is not a strong captain. I am not speaking about this based on the performance in England. He has made many wrong decisions. The main reason for Pakistan cricket’s downfall is the rift between Shaheen and Babar. When there was a falling-out between the two over the captaincy, Pakistan cricket was ruined that day,” Ali said on the ‘Game Plan’ show.
“Many statements were made, saying Shaheen is a very good bowler and Babar is a very good bowler. The rift, whoever created that, the side effects can be seen now,” he added.
PCB takes action
On Monday, the PCB took stock of the situation, deciding to send back seven players home, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha. Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul were also not spared.
White-ball coach Mike Hesson will now take charge of the third and final Test against England in Birmingham. While Babar continues to lead Pakistan in Tests, Shaheen is nowhere to be seen as he finds himself out of favour when it comes to red-ball cricket.
Babar was appointed as the Test captain earlier this year, taking over from Shan Masood. Under his captaincy, Pakistan drew the two-match series against the West Indies. However, the right-hander has gone four years without scoring a century in Tests.