Ahmed Shehzad: “You’re (Babar Azam) just a social media-generated king. You’ve had four to five years. You guys play politics, you guys don’t have the required fitness level. You have played your peak cricket and now your cricket is declining”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Ahmed Shehzad believes Babar Azam’s “cricket is declining” and feels that the limited overs captain is past his prime.
He also accused Azam of playing politics and not having the “required fitness level” to excel in international cricket.
On top of this, Shehzad slammed the 29-year-old for only picking his friends in the team and refusing to give anyone else a chance.
“The problem is that players chasing personal milestones have ruined Pakistan cricket. That’s why we’re in this situation right now. They haven’t learnt anything. There is no leadership in this team,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“You’re (Babar Azam) just a social media-generated king. You’ve had four to five years. You guys play politics, you guys don’t have the required fitness level. You have 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.”
Azam recently captained Pakistan in the 2024 T20 World Cup and amassed 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
The men in green lost to the United States of America and India before fighting back to take down Canada and Ireland.
Even though they ended the group stage on a high, Pakistan failed to book their spot in the Super Eights.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed