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Pakistan’s early exit from the T20 World Cup 2024 has been blamed on factionalism within the team and poor performances by senior players at crucial moments. After this poor performance, there could be a ‘big change’ in the team as well as the PCB. According to Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) sources, the biggest challenge facing Babar Azam’s return as captain was to unite the team but he could not do so due to factionalism.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is upset about losing the captaincy and Babar not supporting him when needed while Mohammad Rizwan is unhappy about not being considered for the captaincy. A team source told PTI, “There are three groups in the team, one is led by Babar Azam, the other is led by Afridi and the third is led by Rizwan. Amidst all this, the return of senior players like Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim worsened the team’s position.
He said, “The withdrawal of Imad and Amir added to the confusion as it was difficult for Babar to get any meaningful performances from either of them. Both of them had not played top-level domestic or international cricket for a long time, except in franchise-based leagues,” the source said. ‘There were also instances when some players did not talk to each other and some even tried to please the players leading the three camps of the team.
A senior PCB official said that chairman Mohsin Naqvi World Cup Was well aware of the team’s problems before. His close friend and national selector Wahab Riaz informed him about this. He said, “Naqvi held two one-on-one meetings with all the players and asked them to focus on winning the World Cup instead of personal interests. He also promised to clear all the misunderstandings in the team after the World Cup but it didn’t work.
The source said, “I’m not defending Babar, but what to do when your main bowler can’t even save 15 runs in the last over against a weak US team and hits fours and sixes on a full toss?” Runs.”He said, ”An all-rounder who came back from retirement has to sit out of the team due to fitness-related issues.” The role of outside elements, including some ex-players, also added to the tension in the team.