Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has opened up about Babar Azam’s stubborn nature as Pakistan captain. Ashraf claimed that Babar Azam was asked to remove some underperforming players from the team but the Pakistan captain refused to do so.
Zaka Ashraf was the Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the 2023 ODI World Cup, which was played in India. Prior to the World Cup, the Asia Cup was played in which Pakistan performed poorly and failed to qualify for the final.
Pakistan’s disappointing performance continued in the World Cup as the team failed to qualify for the semi-final. As a result, Babar’s captaincy came under scrutiny and pundits demanded his resignation from the post.
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Zaka Ashraf breaks silence on Babar Azam’s obstinacy
During a conversation on Pakistani television channel Samaa TV, Zaka Ashraf recalled the time when he was the PCB chairman and Babar was the captain of the team. Ashraf revealed that he had asked Babar to remove players who were not performing well from the team, but Babar did not agree.
“The World Cup (2023) was just around the corner so I didn’t change anything. When we lost in the Asia Cup (2023), I called Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq. We all decided and asked Babar to drop some players before going to the World Cup as their performance was not up to the mark,” Ashraf said.
Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf says he suggested to captain Babar Azam to drop underperforming players from the squad ahead of the World Cup in India. But Babar immediately refused and stuck with those players. Pakistan lost in the first round 🇵🇰🤯🤯#PAKvBAN image.twitter.com/ZHjgZCn5TX
– Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) September 2, 2024
Ashraf further revealed that he allowed Babar to continue with the same players because the World Cup was just around the corner.
“But Babar Azam made a statement that he will not allow any player to be expelled. When he made a statement, we asked him to finish the World Cup as it was just around the corner and told him that when he comes back, we will decide what is best for Pakistan cricket,” he added.
Pakistan’s performance under Babar Azam’s leadership
Pakistan finished fifth in the 2023 ODI World Cup. After the World Cup, Babar stepped down from the captaincy in Tests, ODIs and T20Is. Shaheen Afridi was appointed as Pakistan’s new T20I captain and Shan Masood took charge of the Test team.
However, just ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, Babar was reinstated as Pakistan’s T20I captain under new PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. But Pakistan’s performance did not improve as they were eliminated from the group stage of the tournament and failed to qualify for the Super Eight stage.
Mohammad Wasim calls Babar Azam “very stubborn”
Recently, former Pakistan chief selector Mohammad Wasim also accused Babar of being stubborn and not accepting changes in the team.
“It was painful to make him understand the advantages of the changes. He was very stubborn and I went overboard to convince him to accept certain decisions,” Wasim said.
Pakistan cricket is going through a tough time at the moment. The team is playing a two-match Test series against Bangladesh where they are trailing 0-1 in the two-match series.
