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- Published: October 31, 2023 14:20
New Delhi: Nothing seems to be going right for Pakistani cricket at the moment, as they are suffering both on and off the field right now.
After the Pakistani cricket team’s lacklustre performance in the ICC World Cup 2023, there was a constant demand for resignation from the management by the fans and Pakistani cricket experts.
The first person to crumble down under the constant pressure turned out to be the Pakistani Cricket Board’s (PCB) chief selector, Inzamam-ul-Haq, who was being accused of favouritism in team selection by fans and experts.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed the news through their social media page on X (Formerly known as Twitter).
Inzamam-ul-Haq resigns as chairman of men’s selection committees
Details here⤵️https://t.co/tZVULwTwGE
— Pakistan Cricket (@TheRealPCB) October 30, 2023
This was Inzamam-ul-Haq’s second tenure as the chief selector of the Pakistani cricket team, as he was previously the chief selector for the team between 2016 and 2019.
All is not well with Pakistani Cricket
Earlier, on Monday, Pakistan cricket was the talk of the town after allegedly the private WhatsApp chat between PCB’s COO Salman Naseer and Pakistan cricket team’s captain Babar Azam.
In the chat, Salman can be seen asking Babar Azam about a certain rumour going around about the PCB chief, Md. Zaka Ashraf is not picking up Babar’s phone calls, to which Babar replies that he hasn’t placed any calls directed towards the PCB chief.
They leaked Babar Azam’s private WhatsApp chats?
Pakistani players ko milta kya hai ko unse itni expectations rakhte ho? This is disgusting, he still has three matches to play in this World Cup pic.twitter.com/8eHSG2oygT— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) October 29, 2023
According to the host of the show on which the chat was leaked, Waseem Badami, the team decided not to show the chat on TV, but a last-minute video message from Zaka Ashraf forced them to show the chat, which they later realized was not the best of the decision.
Badami, through a video on his social media platform X (Formerly known as Twitter) page, shared the reason and the story behind how they got the screenshot of the chat and what led to them showing the chat on the show.
My humble thoughts on Babar Azam – Zaka Ashraf issue 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/g7RwamSP54
— Waseem Badami (@WaseemBadami) October 29, 2023
Ex-Pakistani cricketers slams PCB
Former Pakistani cricket legends have slammed PCB on their downgrading move of invading someone’s privacy just to prove an alleged rumour wrong.
Pakistani cricket legend Waqar Younis slams PCB by saying, “What are you trying to do here, this is so pathetic, I hope you all are happy with this. Now, please leave Babar Azam alone, he is an asset to the Pakistani cricket.” On his social media platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), post.
Ya kya Karna ki koshish kar raha ho aap loog??? This is pathetic !!!
Khush ho gaya aap loog. Please leave @babarazam258 alone 🙏🏽. He’s an asset of Pakistan Cricket @TheRealPCB @ARYNEWSOFFICIAL @Salman_ARY https://t.co/pcM90yUGqy— Waqar Younis (@waqyounis99) October 30, 2023
Former Pakistani captain Shahid Afridi also slammed PCB for doing something like this to the captain of their own nation on a TV debate show.
Shahid Afridi on the leaked conversation of Babar Azam. Shame on Shoaib Jutt for doing this cheap stunt. (https://allproshadeconcepts.com) Lala called it as “Ghatiya Harkat”. #BoycottAry #BabarAzam𓃵 pic.twitter.com/qGwNbwfjOK
— Maham Gillani (@dheetafridian__) October 30, 2023
On-field issues
These off-the-field issues should have to be the least of the concerns of the Pakistani cricket team, who are struggling very badly on the field at the moment in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.
Babar Azam cried in the team hotel after losing to Afghanistan last night. Some other players had teary eyes too 💔💔💔 #BabarAzam𓃵 #BehindYouSkipper#PakistanCricket #Rizwan#PakistanCricketTeam #Cwc23pic.twitter.com/c8Wx9AH9Cb
— Cricket In Blood (@CricketInBlood_) October 24, 2023
The team has lost four matches in a row and is only one loss away from a definite elimination from the tournament.
They will be playing against Bangladesh on Tuesday and will be trying to avoid the outside noise as much as possible and focus on the field, and live to see another day in the tournament.