Pakistan media airs Babar Azam's WhatsApp chats; Shahid Afridi blasts PCB chairman, journalist Shoaib Jatt for 'leaking' screenshot
Chandigarh, October 31
All is not well with the Pakistan cricket team and its management.
As if it was not enough that the team is going through a bad phase, the leaking closed-doors and dressing-room discussions have sparked a debate.
Shahid Afridi lashed out at the PCB chairman and journalist Shoaib Jatt for leaking the screenshot of Babar Azam to national news channels.
Shahid said: “Main yeh kahunga yeh ghatiya harkat hai. This cannot be done. Hum apne mulk ko khud hi badnam kar rahe hain.”
Shahid Afridi lashed out at Chairman PCB and Shoaib Jatt for leaking the Screenshot👏👏.#ShahidAfridi #ShameOnYouZaka pic.twitter.com/91FHKb8lK4
— Shaharyar Ejaz 🏏 (@SharyOfficial) October 30, 2023
“The board wants the team to fail. They do not want us to win the World Cup just so that they can make the changes and take control of who leads the team and who gets into the team,” said a senior player of the Pakistan cricket team squad in an interview, given anonymously.
Ya kya Karna ki koshish kar raha ho aap loog??? This is pathetic !!!
Khush ho gaya aap loog. Please leave @babarazam258 alone 🙏🏽. He’s an asset of Pakistan Cricket @TheRealPCB @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL @Salman_ARY https://t.co/pcM90yUGqy— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) October 30, 2023
“It seems the PCB is deliberately orchestrating the failure of the team in the ongoing ICC World Cup. It is playing politics at a time when the team is playing the tournament,” he added.
The senior player said that any issues, fights, disagreements or arguments the players might have could be dealt by the players themselves without any external interference.
“Whatever fights or arguments or disagreements we have within the team is quite common. We are all old and mature enough to deal with them by ourselves. We do not need external interference,” he said.
“But our private discussions in the dressing room or the hotel rooms are leaked to the media deliberately. The next thing the players see is a media debate being done on what was said by who against which player. The social media is put in motion as well. And it only damages the morale of the players, who are already struggling to formulate a winning combination,” he said.
He said there had been a serious impact of leaked discussions from the dressing room, which had been fuelled by personal interests within the PCB.
“This is the last thing that any player wants before and during any cricketing event. And it’s happening when the team is playing the biggest tournament. All these things divert the attention of the players from the match itself. They see what is being said on social media and television programmes. It kills the morale and injects disappointment,” he said.
“The challenging environment, extended hotel stays, negative crowd reactions in India, coupled with criticism by fans and ex-cricketers are some of the factors that have resulted in the bad performance of the Pakistan team,” he said.
Cricket experts say the PCB’s statement issued after the match with Afghanistan, which Pakistan lost, stating that decisions would be taken on the future actions as per the performance in the World Cup indicate that the board has decided to remove Babar Azam from the captaincy, and also axe chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.
“Removing Babar Azam as captain is a decision that the PCB has been wanting to take for some time now. But because Babar Azam is the best batsman in the world and is the best player in the team as well; it has been very difficult for the board to take a decision,” said sports journalist Zaid Hussain. With IANS
My humble thoughts on Babar Azam – Zaka Ashraf issue 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/g7RwamSP54
— Waseem Badami (@WaseemBadami) October 29, 2023
