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Former Pakistani batter Ahmed Shehzad voiced his frustration on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday, criticizing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and team management after they excluded star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi from Pakistan’s 12-man squad for the upcoming second Test against Bangladesh, starting Friday (August 30) at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.
Shehzad argued that Shaheen should not be singled out for Pakistan’s recent subpar performances. While he acknowledged that Shaheen’s recent form has been lacking, he believes that removing just one player will not resolve the issue. Instead, Shehzad contended that the team should consider dropping all underperforming players to address the problem more effectively.
In a video posted on his X account, Shehzad said, “You lost to Zimbabwe; you lost to Ireland; you lost to the USA; you lost to India; now you lost to Bangladesh. Is Shaheen Afridi only responsible for all of this?”
“Shaheen Afridi won’t be solely responsible for all of this. So, bring all those people who were involved in all of this. Tell this country. So, it is wrong to blame Shaheen Afridi for all of this. Yes, his performances are low, his attitude is problematic, you dropped him, that’s a good thing. But what about the rest of the people involved in all of this? What about the rest of the performances?” he asked.
The right-handed batter raised doubts about the performances of openers Abdullah Shafique and Saim Ayub, as well as star batter and former captain Babar Azam, over the last 10+ Tests.
“What about Abdullah Shafique’s performance in the last 8 Test matches? What about Saim Ayub’s performance after 25 matches? What about Babar Azam’s performance in the last 14 Test matches? So just by barring them, there won’t be any surgery; there won’t be any Pakistan team on the right track. There are some decisions that will have to be taken. And those people who are involved in all of this, whose performances are low, they will also have to be held accountable,” he said.
A member of the 2009 T20 World Cup-winning Pakistani team emphasized that the country’s interests should come first. He stated that if the PCB is committed to improving Pakistan cricket, it must remove all underperforming players.
“Because no one is greater than cricket and the country. The country is above everything else. No matter how many people run PR, no matter how many people hide behind personal milestones, no matter how many people buy boards, no matter how much money someone invests, we know everything. And those who are handling the helm of affairs in PCB, they also know everything. So, now the time has come that not just one person, if you really want to go in the right direction, then you will have to bring all of them to the gutter. This won’t work.”
The Pakistan cricket team will return to action, aiming to bounce back from their recent defeat. Under the leadership of Shan Masood, they will face Bangladesh in the second Test match in Rawalpindi.
