Ex-Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has slammed PCB for continuously backing Babar Azam and revealed that the captain had got enough chances and still hasn't been successful. Afridi also criticised the chopping and changing of players and the selectors and also requested the board to be consistent while choosing the players.
During the post-match interview of the World Championship Legends match in England, Shahid Afridi revealed that not many former skippers, including himself, could stay at the top for a long time. He made this comments after the board removed Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq from the selection panel after the Men in Green's dismal show in the recently concluded 2024 T20 World Cup.
"They should decide on the captain or the coach and then give them time. As far as Babar is concerned.. I have captained, Younis (Khan), and Misbah have captained a lot. A captain never got so many chances. As soon as the World Cup is over, often the captain used to be the first one who got the blame. Babar has led in two-three World Cups, two-three Asia Cups, T20 World Cups, he has had enough opportunities. If you want to keep Babar In my opinion, a lot of things have been done. If you bring in someone new, give him chances," Shahid Afridi said in the post-match press conference.
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Babar Azam has been under immense scrutiny ever since they made the group-stage exit from the mega-event. The Babar Azam-led side lost to arch-nemesis India and before that suffered a humiliating loss giant slayers USA in New York.
Why only sack two people?
Mohsin Naqvi, who is the chief of PCB, assured the fans a 'surgery' after their poor performance in the mega-event. Imad Wasim, was one of those, who revealed that the team would undergo several changes and the management as well but so far just two selectors have been removed.
"I got to know that only Abdul Razzaq and Wahab Riaz have been sacked from the selection committee. I don't understand this surgery. If the selection committee is of 6-7 people then why only these two have been removed?" he added.
Babar Azam was removed as the skipper from all three formats after their poor performance in the ODI World Cup last year. Shahen Shah Afridi was then given the captaincy in the shortest format, but he too was removed after they lost the New Zealand series. Babar once again became the skipper under the new board.
This decision didn't work in their favor as Babar as failed to perform in the mega-event amidst the rifts in dressing room. Pakistan cricket team will next be seen in action for a two-match Test series against Bangladesh.