Pakistan has seen several changes in leadership in recent years, a change that has apparently impacted the team’s performance in international ICC competitions. Their early elimination from the Champions Trophy was especially agonizing, particularly for a country that had looked forward to hosting its first major cricket tournament in almost three decades. Ahmed Shahzad reacted to Babar Azam’s captaincy, noting that he was the player once perceived to lead Pakistan back to glory but failed to do so. The axed Pakistan batter alleged Babar showed bias within the team by claiming that he had not given deserving chances from domestic cricket. This is the third ICC white-ball tournament in a row where Pakistan has not advanced to the group stages, with the 2023 ODI World Cup and last year’s T20 World Cup in the US and West Indies also witnessing early exits.
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“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.
Shahzad also referred to the problem of political involvement in the cricket of Pakistan, but asserted that it is the team’s discipline problem that has finally cost it its chance.
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“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.
