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Cricket Players‘Babar Azam selected friends in team disregarding merit’: Ex-Pakistan skipper accused of favouritism after CT debacle
Shehzad discussed political interference in Pakistan cricket but claimed that the team's indiscipline has led to its downfall.
Ahmed Shehzad made a scathing attack on former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for favouring friends in team selection. The recent Champions Trophy debacle has once again put the Pakistan team under scrutiny, as senior players like Babar are facing criticism. It was the first real test for skipper Mohammad Rizwan, who took over the white-ball captaincy charge from Babar after the 2023 T20 World Cup, but Pakistan suffered another embarrassing group stage.
Pakistan have made several changes in the leadership group over the last couple of years, which has also hampered the team's performance in the ICC events. The early elimination from Champions Trophy stings for a country that had relished hosting its first major cricket tournament in 29 years.
Shahzad talked about Babar, who was once touted as taking the Pakistan team back to their glory days but has failed to do so. The out-of-favour Pakistan batter accused Babar of favouritism in the team and said he didn't gave chances to the deserving candidates from the domestic cricket.
"It’s sad to see him in this condition. When he started his career, it seemed he would break all records for Pakistan. But now, everything is in front of you—players don’t fail for this long. It was a mistake to make a performer the captain. After becoming captain, he surrounded himself with friends and selected them for the team, disregarding merit. When you favour friends over deserving players, the wheels of domestic cricket stop turning, as genuine performers don’t get enough chances,” Shehzad told India Today.
‘Political interference has always been there in Pakistan cricket…’
It was the third straight white-ball ICC tournament in a row where Pakistan were eliminated from the group stage. They also crashed out of the 2023 ODI World Cup in the first round in India.
It was followed by their exit at the same stage in the T20 World Cup in the United States and West Indies last year.
Shehzad also discussed political interference in Pakistan cricket but claimed that the team's indiscipline has led to its downfall.
"Political interference has always been there; there’s no doubt. But the condition of the team is not because of the last two years—this has been happening for a while now. When you don’t bring in reforms, when you don’t honour merit, and when you don’t control indiscipline in the team, sooner or later, these results will come,” Shehzad added.
