There is no stopping to Ahmed Shehzad and his vociferous criticism on Babar Azam and the current Pakistan cricket team, who are now officially knocked out of this year’s T20 World Cup after the USA vs Ireland match was called off on Friday.
Ahmed Shehzad demands the removal of Babar Azam, Mohammed Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf from the team.
“For the past five years, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammed Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman and Haris Rauf, they have played together and this lot has got enough opportunities but they have failed to deliver,” Shehzad said on ‘Haarna Mana Hai’ on Geo News.
The 32-year-old blamed the groupings and players putting personal milestones ahead of country’s interests for Pakistan’s debacle in ongoing the T20 World Cup.
“The kind of groupings that are happening in the team… there is lack of leadership. They keep saying they’re learning from their mistakes. Aap kya seekh rahe hain? Against Canada, when you needed to up your run rate.. Rizwan scored the slowest fifty, Babar scored run-a-ball. There was no demons on that pitch,” he lashed out.
“Problem is that (players chasing) personal milestones have ruined Pakistan cricket. That’s why we’re in this situation right now. They haven’t learnt anything.
“There is no leadership in this team. You’re (Babar Azam) just a social media generated king. You’ve had four to five years… You guys play politics, you guys don’t have the required fitness level. You have played your peak cricket and now your cricket is declining. You have not let anyone else come into the team. Till now you have maintained freinships only,” he added.
Shehzad also made a scathing remark on Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi for reappointing Babar Azam as captain and making Wahab Riaz as selector.
“PCB chairman, who has joined two months ago, has already took two bad calls in his tenure so far. First, he reinstated Babar Azam as captain. It was the worst decision because he was given enough chances as captain. He was tried and tested. Then he picked Wahab Riaz as selector, who has handled things very unprofessionally in the past two months,” he said.
Shehzad says the PCB must remove all the seven-eight players, who are playing politics inside the dressing room and make a statement once and for all.
“Now people will come and scare the PCB chief that if he will remove 7-8 cricketers, then the team will lost its aura. But these are the guys, who are putting friendships over the country and if you remove only two or three from this lot then it would be injustice for them. Remove all of them,” he said.
Pakistan have lost their first two games against the USA and arch-rivals India and now they will face Ireland their final group stage match against Ireland on Sunday. If weather permits, the win against Ireland won’t be enough for Pakistan.
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