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Ahmed Shehzad, the former Pakistani batsman whose recent remarks criticizing Babar Azam and the Pakistan men’s cricket team during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 drew attention, is now facing backlash from fans.
A video has surfaced showing the 32-year-old Shehzad, who hasn’t played for Pakistan since 2019, struggling in a gully cricket match against locals. In the clip, he is seen being bowled out three times in four deliveries by a local bowler, sparking widespread reactions among cricket enthusiasts.
During the recent T20 World Cup 2024 matches held in the West Indies and USA, Ahmed Shehzad strongly criticized the Pakistani batsmen for their poor performance and accused them of engaging in cliques within the team. Following Pakistan’s failure to advance to the Super 8s stage, Shehzad called for the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to drop Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, and Fakhar Zaman.
Shehzad asserted that these senior players had ample time to showcase improvement but failed to do so. He claimed that instead of focusing on their performance, they formed alliances within the team to shield their associates.
He openly criticized Babar Azam for his inability to perform under pressure, labeling him as a pretender to the throne.
“Your strike rate is 112, and your average is 26. You haven’t hit a single six in 207 balls in the Powerplay. I admit I could’ve improved on my own performances eight years ago, but your stats are even worse. You are worse than me, but you are king. You’re a fraud king,” Shehzad had said.
“He could not bring any trophy for Pakistan. After that, you have ruined the entire domestic structure; you are such a captain, you cannot unconventionally run the domestic team to bring in your friends,” he added.
Ahmed Shehzad for Pakistan
Ahmed Shehzad began his international cricket journey for Pakistan on April 24, 2009, in an ODI against Australia held in Dubai. He made his T20I debut shortly after, on May 9, 2009, and was part of the victorious 2009 T20 World Cup squad led by Younis Khan. Over his extensive 15-year career, the 32-year-old right-handed top-order batsman has appeared in 13 Tests, 81 ODIs, and 59 T20Is for Pakistan, amassing totals of 982, 2605, and 1471 runs respectively.
