Former cricketer Basit Ali slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for protecting white-ball skipper Babar Azam by deflecting the blame on Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan following the side’s dismal show in the 2024 T20 World Cup. Pakistan continued their poor run over the past few months with an embarrassing group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup as well. Pakistan faced a forgettable defeat to USA in their tournament opener before losing against arch-rivals India in the following encounter.

In a recent interview, as quoted by Cricket Pakistan, Ali said, “The report is being prepared against Shaheen Afridi and Mohammad Rizwan that they have formed a separate group, which is wrong. Don’t put your blame on the others. Otherwise, Pakistan cricket will be destroyed. If you think that Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, and Babar Azam are not on the same pitch, then you remove them altogether. Don’t just blame the other two and mark the third one as a hero. It will be wrong.”

However, reports have already started circulating that pacer Shaheen Afridi could be reprimanded for misbehaving with head coach Gary Kirsten and other coaches during recent tours as well. Basit Ali further lashed out at Babar Azam’s captaincy and the decision to remove Shaheen Afridi from the helm in T20Is after a lone series as well.

“What captaincy has Babar Azam done? Not even in this tournament, but from the World Cup 2023. When you gave Mohammad Nawaz the last over in Melbourne against India, didn’t that open your eyes? What will a person feel after being removed from the captaincy after just five matches? We feel bad even when our chairs get changed on a TV show. Imagine how he would feel,” concluded Basit Ali.