Following Pakistan’s poor efficiency within the ICC Cricket World Cup held in India final 12 months, the place they completed fifth with solely 4 wins out of 9 matches, a big choice was made, and Shaheen Shah Afridi was appointed because the T20I captain of Pakistan, changing Babar Azam. This transfer was seen as a strategic step in preparation for the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, which is scheduled to start on June 1 this 12 months within the West Indies/USA.
Nonetheless, the beginning of Shaheen’s captaincy journey was marred by a collection of defeats. Pakistan suffered a 1-4 loss to New Zealand of their away collection, a consequence that was surprising and disappointing. Moreover, his staff, Lahore Qalandars, had a dismal season within the Pakistan Tremendous League (PSL), ending on the backside of the desk after securing the title twice in 2022 and 2023. These setbacks raised critical questions on Shaheen’s management, in the end resulting in his alternative by Babar.
Amidst the upheaval surrounding the captaincy change, media stories started to flow into, suggesting that Shaheen was displeased with the way through which he was faraway from the captaincy. These stories gained additional traction after Shaheen shared a cryptic publish on social media.
Wahab Riaz’s clarification on the rising speculations of the rift between Shaheen and Babar
Wahab Riaz, the supervisor of Pakistan males’s nationwide staff, has curbed the rumours of a rift between Shaheen and Babar over the reinstatement of Babar as Pakistan’s captain.
“There’s a lot hypothesis we actually are those ruining the environment. Till issues weren’t clear, media and social media had been so energetic that it felt if we had not gone to Kakul, they could have simply hit one another,” mentioned Wahab, as quoted by the Wisden.
“After we truly went, we noticed an environment as pleasant as we might have seen. The boys had been united. After their coaching and iftar, they’d head to the snooker room or watch TV collectively. It was a very good environment,” he added.
Former Pakistan cricketer requested the media to not unfold rumours about gamers and mentioned that the media ought to verify the reality about any subject earlier than publishing it.
“We have to verify the reality behind such information earlier than breaking it, these are Pakistan gamers who need to symbolize their nation, and that’s their collective purpose, and they’re united due to that, and can be. The gamers you speak about will win Pakistan video games sooner or later,” the 38-year-old said.
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Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir return to Pakistan squad in opposition to New Zealand
The five-match T20I residence collection of Pakistan in opposition to New Zealand will start on April 18, 2024. The squad which Babar will head will embrace Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim, who’re making a comeback after staying away from worldwide cricket for a lot of days.Amir was away from cricket after getting banned for spot-fixing. In the meantime, Wasim had introduced his retirement in November 2023, however he took it again after the request of selectors following his spectacular efficiency within the PSL.
Wahab referred to as the choice to incorporate Amir and Wasim a simple name amid the damage of Haris Rauf and Mohammad Nawaz’s misplaced type.
“The choice to incorporate Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir was a simple one, given their availability for choice and contemplating Haris Rauf’s damage and Mohammad Nawaz’s present type. Each Amir and Imad possess plain match-winning capabilities, and we belief they’ll constantly ship robust performances to bolster the staff’s aims,” mentioned Wahab.
Aside from Amir and Wasim, the squad of Pakistan additionally contains two uncapped gamers, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan, for his or her distinctive efficiency within the PSL.
