Mohammad Rizwan was reportedly unhappy about not being considered for the captaincy.© AFP
Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup was due to “clustering” within the team and poor performance of senior players at critical times and this could lead to “major changes” not only in the team but also in the PCB. According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources, the biggest challenge before Babar Azam returns as captain was to unite the team but he could not do it due to grouping. Shaheen Afridi was upset about losing the captaincy and Babar not supporting him when needed, while Mohammad Rizwan was unhappy about not being considered for the captaincy.
“There are three groups in the team, one led by Babar Azam, the second by Shaheen Shaheen Afridi, and the third by Mohammad Rizwan. Add to that the return of seniors like Mohammad Aamir and Imad Wasim and the recipe is ready. World Cup disaster,” a source close to the team told PTI.
The return of Imad and Amir adds to the confusion as it is difficult for Babar to get valuable appearances from the duo as they have not played top-level domestic or international cricket for a long time except in franchise-based leagues.
“There were even instances where some players did not talk to each other and some of them even tried to calm down all the group leaders in the team,” the source added.
A senior PCB official said that Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was well aware of the problems existing in the team even before the World Cup and had been briefed by his right-hand man, national selector and senior manager, Wahab Riaz.
“Naqvi held two meetings with all the players personally and gave them encouragement asking them to put aside their problems and focus on winning the World Cup and he would clear all the doubts in the team later but apparently things did not go well.
“I am not defending Babar but what is a captain supposed to do when your main bowler couldn’t even defend 15 in the final against a weak US team and conceded one boundary and six full tosses.
“Or when an all-rounder who came out of retirement to help win the World Cup can’t play because of fitness problems.” The role of outside elements including player agents and several former players running social media campaigns has also not helped calm the simmering tensions within the team.
Naqvi has now hinted at making changes in the national team, but other informed sources have made it clear that changes will also be made in the cricket board.
“The chairman will obviously sort things out in the team but he has already started the assessment process regarding the performance of senior and middle level employees on the board,” the source claimed.
“You will see big changes in the team and at the management level on the board now,” he said.
“Naqvi himself is facing problems as he was not the incumbent government’s choice to lead the board. He is also now facing criticism over the WC failure and there are calls to appoint him as well,” another PCB source said.
Some reliable sources have also confirmed that Naqvi will not take an immediate decision on captaining Babar Azam as Pakistan will play their next white-ball series in November.
“One good thing for Naqvi is that Pakistan now have two test series scheduled at home against Bangladesh and England and with Shan Masood already the test captain and new head coach Jason Gillispie and he doesn’t have to worry about any immediate changes. .” Usually in Pakistan cricket, a failed World Cup campaign means a lot of headaches and the board tends to look for scapegoats, but this time even cricket fans and critics are pushing the PCB to take steps to stop the team’s downfall.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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