T20 World Cup: Sources told the reason behind being out of T20 World Cup

T20 World Cup: Factionalism within the team and failure at crucial moments to ensure Pakistan’s T20 World Cup exit Senior players The poor performance of the team is being blamed and this could lead to “big changes” not only in the team but also in the PCB. Pakistan Cricket Board (PCBAccording to sources, the biggest challenge for Babar Azam, who returned 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 Muhammad Rizwan is unhappy about not being considered for captaincy. There are three groups in the team, one led by Babar Azam, the other by Shaheen Shaheen Afridi and the third by Muhammad Rizwan. “This also includes the return of senior players like Mohammad Aamir and Imad Wasim and a poor performance in the World Cup has become a possibility,” a source close to the team told PTI. “The return of Imad and Aamir has increased the confusion as it has become difficult for Babar to get any good performance from these two as both of them have not played top level domestic or international cricket for a long time except franchise-based leagues.” The source said, “There have been cases when some players were not talking to each other and some of them even tried to please all the group leaders of the team.” A senior PCB official said that chairman Mohsin Naqvi had already decided to take action against the players before the World Cup.

He was well aware of the problems in the team and was briefed about the same by his right hand man, national selector and senior manager Wahab Riaz.

“Naqvi held two meetings with all the players in private and encouraged them to put their issues aside and focus on winning the World Cup and later they will clear all the misunderstandings in the team, but obviously things did not work out. I am not defending Babar, but what is a captain supposed to do when your key bowler fails to score even 15 runs in the final over against a weak USA team and concedes a four and a six off a full toss. “Or when an all-rounder who was brought back from retirement to help win the World Cup is sitting out due to fitness issues.” The role of external elements, including players’ agents and some former players running social media campaigns, has also not helped ease the growing tensions in the team. Naqvi has now hinted at making changes in the national team, but another informed source made it clear that changes will now be made in the cricket board as well. “The chairman is definitely going to clear things in the team, but he has started the process of performance-related appraisal of senior and middle-level staff in the board,” the source claimed. “Now you can see the team’s performance in the team,” he added. We will see major changes at the management level and in the board.”

Another PCB source said, “Naqvi himself is facing problems because he is not eligible to lead the board. Ruling Government Naqvi is not the choice of Babar Azam. He is now facing criticism for the World Cup defeat and there are also calls for his removal as the head coach.” Several reliable sources have also confirmed that Naqvi will not take any immediate decision on Babar Azam’s captaincy, as Pakistan will now play their next white-ball series in November. “A good thing for Naqvi is that Pakistan now have to play two Test series at home against Bangladesh and England and Shan Masood is already the Test captain and there is a new head coach in the form of Jason Gillispie, so he does not have to worry about immediate changes.” Usually in Pakistan cricket, a failure in a World Cup campaign means that the team has to face defeat and the board starts looking for scapegoats, but this time cricket fans and critics are also putting pressure on the PCB to take steps to stop the team’s decline.

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