New Delhi: Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Zaka Ashraf recently faced heavy criticism after he reportedly leaked screenshots of Babar Azam’s private WhatsApp Chat with Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer without permission.
Soon after the Screen Grabs of Babar’s chat were displayed on Pakistan’s leading news network ARY News, fans started wondering if the Pakistani captain knew about the same and have consented to sharing his private chat on national television.
Adding fuel to the fire, ex-Pakistani cricketer Rashid Latif already said that Zaka has been constantly ignoring Babar who is trying to communicate with him again and again.
However, Zaka soon Rubbish Rashid’s allegations in an interview and said that it was Babar who never made an attempt to approach him and therefore, he had to come on Live TV and share the private chat’s screenshots publicly.
Babar Azam’s Leaked Chats
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
In the viral screenshots, Naseer is seen asking Babar if he has made any call with the board’s chairman to which the Pakistani caption replies by writing, “Salam Salman Bhai, Ma ny to sir ko koi call nai ke.” (Salaam Salman Sir, I have not made any calls to sir)
Waseem Badami’s apology
My humble thoughts on Babar Azam – Zaka Ashraf issue 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/g7RwamSP54
— Waseem Badami (@WaseemBadami) October 29, 2023
After getting blasted by netizens for broadcasting Babar’s personal chat on their TV channel, Pakistani sports journalist Waseem Badami took to his Twitter (Now X) and publicly apologized for breaching the cricketer’s privacy.
Issuing a public apology, Waseem dropped a video in which he claimed that despite initially deciding against displaying Babar’s private chat on Live TV, he later went ahead with it after Zaka, who was also a party to the conversation, gave him and his team the permission to do the same.
The Chat leak controversy has erupted during a sensitive time when both Babar Azam and Pakistan cricket are going through a really bad phase.
While the men in green are already out of the title race of the ICC CWC 2023 World Cup, their Skipper Babar Azam is also going through a rough patch and has failed to deliver any match-winning knock for his team for a long while.
Pakistan’s World Cup 2023 campaign
Pakistan started their World Cup on a good note with a convincing win over the Netherlands and a historical Chase against Sri Lanka but their campaign soon derailed after they suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of arch-rival India on 14th October in Ahamadabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium.
Post the defeat, the men in green lost their momentum and faced back-to-back setbacks in their next 4 games of the tournament.
They will now play for pride and try to win the rest of their remaining matches against Bangladesh, New Zealand, and England.
