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Basit Ali, a former Pakistan cricketer, has leveled accusations against the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), claiming that they are singling out Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan following Pakistan’s disappointing performance in the T20 World Cup 2024. Ali also criticized Babar Azam, citing concerns over his leadership during recent months.
Pakistan’s journey in the T20 World Cup 2024 came to an abrupt end when they failed to progress past the group stage. Despite expectations of dominating against the USA, Pakistan suffered a narrow defeat in a dramatic Super Over. Their subsequent match against India saw them squander a promising position, resulting in a defeat by 6 runs after restricting India to a low total of 119. Although Pakistan managed victories over Canada and Ireland in their remaining group matches, these wins were insufficient to secure a spot in the Super Eight stage.
Basit Ali accuses PCB.
Basit Ali claims PCB is compiling a report on Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan to shield Babar Azam, Pakistan’s captain for ODI and T20I. Ali proposes that rather than singling out two players, PCB should consider removing all three.
“The report is being prepared against Shaheen Afridi and (Mohammad) Rizwan that they have formed a separate group, which is wrong. Don’t put your blame on the others, otherwise, Pakistan cricket will be destroyed,” Basit Ali stated.
“I’m saying this now because if it happens, then it’s your mistake. If you think that (Mohammad) Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Babar (Azam) are not on the same pitch, then you remove them all together,” Basit Ali stated. Don’t just blame the other two and mark the third one as a hero. It will be wrong,” he added.
Basit Ali raised doubts about Babar Azam’s leadership, especially since the ODI World Cup last year. He particularly criticized Babar’s choice to entrust Mohammad Nawaz with the final over in Pakistan’s match against India during the 2022 T20 World Cup, which ended in defeat.
“What captaincy has Babar (Azam) done? Not even in this tournament, but from the World Cup (2023). When you gave (Mohammad) Nawaz the last over in Melbourne (against India), didn’t that open your eyes? he wondered.
“What will a person feel after being removed from the captaincy after just five matches? We feel bad even when our chairs get changed on a TV show, imagine how would he feel,” Basit Ali blasted PCB for sacking Shaheen Afridi after just five T20Is against New Zealand.
Despite being Pakistan’s top scorer in the T20 World Cup 2024, Babar Azam’s batting performance was disappointing, accumulating 122 runs across four matches with a strike rate of only 101.66.
