The rifts in the Pakistan men’s cricket team appear to be deepening. During the first Test match against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Day 4, Captain Shan Masood was seen arguing and exchanging barbs with Coach Jason Gillespie. This raised speculation about a growing rift in the squad.
The subsequent day’s private team huddle to regroup was documented on television and showed the team’s star pace bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi not only shoving off Masood’s hand but also fading into the back of the huddle, a strong signal of unhappiness in such a public setting.
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These challenges add to growing concerns that have been present since Pakistan’s disappointing T20 World Cup. Former cricketer Wasim Akram reported internal division after the team suffered an embarrassing loss. It is assumed the internal conflict was magnified when the captaincy brought back the former captain Babar Azam, raising questions internally and among the former crickets.
When there is no unity!
There is no will!#PAKvsBAN pic.twitter.com/G4m2sjLyyC— Shaharyar Azhar (@azhar_shaharyar) August 25, 2024
Big fight between pct players,
Pakistani captain Shan masood angry on Babar azam drop catch and his performance😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/BVhTtfzSW6— AB de villiers (parody) (@virashtra18) August 24, 2024
He had only resigned following a disappointing run in the ODI World Cup 2023; Masood was named the captain for the Test format; Shaheen Shah Afridi was named the captain for white-ball cricket. Shaheen was swiftly replaced in the T20I captaincy after one series and an embarrassing 4-1 series loss to New Zealand.
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This escalated the internal division both within Earth and internally. The teaming of wasn’t as well supported and has not been well received by other former players, publicly disgruntled for being semi-accepting; worthy is Shahid Afridi, who publically gave shock.
He alleged that Shaheen should have had more time to prove he was up for keeping the captaincy role as he accused Babar of having an agenda instead of letting Masood and Schmidt lead the team, Babar instead going back to the captaincy.
