Starting the tournament as favourites, Pakistan's 2023 World Cup campaign saw Babar Azam and Co. crash to their fourth straight defeat, losing to South Africa on Friday, in Chennai. Pakistan began their campaign with a 81-run win against Netherlands, followed by a six-wicket victory vs Sri Lanka. Despite being in good momentum, their winning streak broke in their third match, losing to India by seven wickets. In their fourth match, they lost to Australia by 62 runs, followed by a shocking 8-wicket historic defeat vs Afghanistan. Then on Friday, they crashed to a narrow one-wicket loss against Temba Bavuma's side.
A lot has been attributed and alleged to Pakistan's results in India currently. The team's pace battery hasn't lived upto its potential and even the batting department has underperformed. Meanwhile, it has also been alleged that the team dressing room has been going through a phase of lack of camaraderie. Meanwhile, the PCB released a statement recently, where it denied such reports, and stated that 'there is no evidence to support these unsubstantiated claims'.
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Reacting to the recent developments, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif pointed out that this country's media are 'perhaps spreading false news'. Latif, who is also a ex-Pakistan chief selector, went on to state that he would reveal the 'true news, which has been put on hold'.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to the recent developments, former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif pointed out that this country's media are 'perhaps spreading false news'. Latif, who is also a ex-Pakistan chief selector, went on to state that he would reveal the 'true news, which has been put on hold'.
{{/usCountry}}Speaking to PTV Sports, he said, "In the Pakistani media, many things are happening. Perhaps they are false news. I will provide you with the true news, which was kept on hold."
"Babar Azam has been trying to message the chairman for the past two days, but they are not responding. He is messaging Salman Naseer (Chief Operating Officer), he is messaging Usman Walha (Director – International Cricket). So, what is the reason for not responding to their captain? Then, you are releasing a press statement.
"And it has been told to the players that we will reconsider the central contracts they have signed. These central contracts will not be accepted. Players have not received their salaries for five months, so how will they play? I didn’t want to reveal this," he further added.
Pakistan have three more matches remaining in the league stage, and have fallen to sixth position in the standings with four points (two wins and four defeats). They face Bangladesh in their next match, and will need to seal a dominating win, so that they can improve their net run rate, and then take on 2019 runners-up New Zealand, who are in good form. In their final match of the league phase, they will face defending champions England, who have been poor form too and are ninth in the 10-team table.