Amidst rumours of reported rift between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi, former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has claimed the unity is intact in the team’s dressing room and denies their poor on-field performances have anything to do with the change of captaincy.
Ashraf also rejected that his decision to remove Babar Azam as the Test and T20I captain spoiled the team atmosphere. After failing to qualify for the semifinals of the 2023 ODI World Cup, PCB made wholesale changes in the team management including the appointment of Shan Masood as Test captain while Shaheen Afridi was named to lead the T20I side.
“There were no differences between Babar Azam or Shaheen even after I decided to have the latter as the T20 captain,” Ashraf said on a local news channel.
“No, the unity didn’t end (after removing Babar Azam as captain). In fact, the unity improved. When we told him to play as a player, which is his talent, but as a captain, his performance is not good, he agreed,” Ashraf added.
However, in a stunning turn of events, Shaheen was sacked as the T20I captain after just a series in New Zealand and was also dropped for the second Test against Bangladesh last week due to poor form.
New Chairman Mohsin Naqvi reinstated Babar as the T20 skipper, while he has also been struggling for form and faced intense criticism after Pakistan’s lacklustre show in the T20 World Cup this year.
Ashraf also defended his decision to appoint Shan and Muhammad Hafeez as the team director.
“Hafeez is “a very honest man” and no, there was no grouping. The team was good. And, we brought Shan Masood as the captain.
“He was a very good captain. He is still a very good player. He is still a captain in England’s counties. And, I made Shaheen Shah the captain of the T20I team. That was also a very good decision,” he said.
Ashraf, who headed the interim cricket management committee appointed by the government from June to January, said he had taken the right decision to bring in Hafeez as team director.
“Mohammad Hafeez is an excellent cricketer and a very honest person, we brought him along. Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, and these players, we brought them along so that the coaching staff is with the team,” he added.
