Former Pakistan chief selector Mohammad Wasim has revealed that white-ball skipper Babar Azam showed stubbornness during his tenure, which prevented him from making the big changes he wanted in the team. Pakistan cricket is going through a tough phase with the team underperforming across formats. It all began with the 2023 ODI World Cup in India, where Babar Azam and Co. failed to reach the semi-final, things got worse for them in the 2024 T20 World Cup where they lost to non-Test playing nation USA and were knocked out of the group stage. Meanwhile, the recent Test loss against Bangladesh was the final nail in the coffin for them as the PCB finally made some big calls to drop the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi from the XI in the second match of the series.
Babar was appointed Pakistan’s captain for the first time in 2020, but he decided to relinquish the role after the 2023 ODI WC. However, a change in PCB management brought him back to the captaincy responsibility.
Former PCB chief selector Wasim revealed he tried hard to convince Babar to make some changes in the team, but the skipper was very stubborn and didn’t allow it to happen.
“It was painful to make him understand the advantages of changes. He was very stubborn, and I overstepped my limitations to get him on board with certain calls. He was not ready to accept changes,” Wasim told a local sports platform (via Cricket Pakistan).
He further revealed that the coaches in the past named a group of players who were cancer to the team, and he tried to remove them but didn’t get the captain’s support.
“I will not take names, but four coaches said that a group of players is cancer to the team. If they are part of the squad, Pakistan can’t win. I tried to remove them from the team, but the team management recalled them,” he added.
The Pakistan team has made some shocking decisions in recent times, which include recalling retired Imad Wasim and Mohammad Amir back in the squad for the T20 World Cup.
Imad Wasim has been hiding knee injury for years
Wasim revealed that he dropped Imad during his tenure and wanted him to work on his fitness, but he continued to hide his knee injury for years.
“Imad has a knee injury, but he has been hiding it for years. We always speak about Azam Khan’s fitness levels, but Imad is also suffering from the same problem. He was dropped from the side for that same reason, and I also dropped him during my tenure so that he could work on his fitness,” Mohammad Wasim said in the same interview.
