Babar Azam will lead Pakistan in World Cup

Players are out of form for a long time: Shehzad

Terming it as friendship is personal: Imam

Pakistan batsman Babar Azam had stepped down from captaincy after Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi finals in the 2023 ICC ODI World Cup. He has however returned to lead the squad in the 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. from a long run. “The players are out of form for a long time. It doesn’t look good. If I count the number of matches, you’ll realise players don’t get that long run. If there were any other captain, he wouldn’t have carried players for 35-40 games. He should have thought about himself. We don’t play cricket to win bilateral series but to win ICC events. Did we win any event in the last 4-5 years? If we didn’t win, I would say there are gangs, friendships, and tola with an agent who has been manipulating cricket for the last 4-5 years,” Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad said speaking to Geo TV. 

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Pakistan batsman Imam-Ul-Haq however refuted the claim that friendships were a basis for selection in the Pakistan squad. “Babar was removed without his consent and reinstated without his consent as well. The board re-appointed him as captain. In 2021, we reached the semifinals. Later in 2022, we played the final, which means there were performances. We didn’t win, that can be a debate. We didn’t click in the final. You can say Babar likes these lot of players but terming it as friendship is quite personal,” Imam said. The pressure to win an ICC trophy is also high on the Pakistan Cricket Team. They have come close on many occasions in the last 7 years ever since their ICC Champions Trophy 2017 victory.