‘Personal milestone ne humari cricket ko tabaah kar diya’: Ahmed Shehzad calls for removal of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, Rizwan, Fakhar, Haris Rauf – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Former Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad voiced his strong opinions following Pakistan’s early exit from the ongoing 2024 ICC T20 World Cup. The former opening batter called for an overhaul of the team, beginning with the removal of key players such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, and Haris Rauf.

Pakistan’s elimination from the tournament was decided after the Group A match between co-hosts USA and Ireland in Florida was washed out on Friday.

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Speaking on Pakistan’s Geo News channel, Shehzad said: “For the past four-five years, Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammed Rizwan and Haris Rauf have played in almost all the Pakistan matches. This lot has got more opportunities than it should.”

Shehzad criticized the team dynamics, mentioning issues of leadership and personal milestones overshadowing team performance.



“The kind of groupings that are happening in the team… There is a 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 33. There were no demons on that pitch. Personal milestone ne humari cricket ko tabaah kar diya. Aap kehte hai leadership, nahi hai aapke paas leadership. Aapke paas bas itna hai ki social media generated ‘King’ hai,” he lashed out.



He further added, “You’ve had four to five years and you didn’t win anything. You guys play politics, you guys don’t have the required fitness level. You have already 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 friendships only.”

Shehzad also had strong words for Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Mohsin Naqvi regarding Babar Azam’s captaincy and the appointment of Wahab Riaz as selector.



“PCB chairman, who joined two months ago, has already taken two bad decisions in his tenure. 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 urged the PCB to remove players he believes are causing issues within the team. “Now people will come and scare the PCB chief that if he removes 7-8 cricketers, then the team won’t survive. 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.

Shehzad highlighted his concern for the future of Pakistan cricket, emphasizing the need for substantial changes to address the current challenges.