Amid accusations of favoritism, Babar Azam defended with proof by ex-Pakistan cricketer; real villain revealed

Former Pakistan cricketer Tanvir Ahmed lashed out at the fans and experts criticizing Babar Azam for favoritism in the team. He said that all the players are on the team because of their performances. 

Pakistan skipper Babar Azam has become a villain for many back home. This comes after his team has been below par in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 with their performances. The Men in Green are hanging by the thread in the tournament and are on the verge of elimination from the tournament. 

Pakistan suffered a disappointing loss against the USA in their first game of the tournament and after that bagged another poor defeat. They suffered a 6-run loss to India and came under a lot of scanners, especially after being in the winning position in the match for most of the time. 

Even though Pakistan beat Canada after that, they are on the verge of getting eliminated from the tournament. If the United States of America defeat Ireland or their game gets washed out, the Babar Azam-led side will be eliminated from the tournament. 

With Pakistan performing badly in the tournament, Babar Azam as a captain has been at the receiving end of a lot of skewering. There have been allegations against him that he has been rude to his players and only prefers his friends in the team over other performers. 

Tanvir Ahmed however, isn't on the same page. He revealed that Babar Azam was earlier removed as the captain of the team because he didn't agree to a deal with the surrogate company but there were calls that he was removed because he wanted his friends on the team. 

Tanvir pointed out the names of the players that are on the team and claimed that they are on the side because of their performances. He added the likes of Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali, and others who were on the team earlier under Babar Azam's leadership. And they were removed after he was snubbed as the captain. Speaking on the TV show, he explained: 

"First of all, when Babar Azam was removed from the captaincy, he was removed from the captaincy because of the surrogate company. The surrogate company put up this poster and said that he doesn't play. He was removed from the captaincy because of that. What did they say? That he has a lot of friendliness in his team. These 6-7-8 boys have a lot of friendliness. Let me tell you about those 6-7-8 boys. Fahim Ashraf, is he in the World Cup team? No. 

"Usman Qadir, is he in the World Cup team? No. Hassan Ali, is he in the World Cup team? No. Asif Ali, Khujdil Shah, Muhammad Nawaz, Waseem Junior, Muhammad Waseem Junior, are they in the World Cup team? No, none of them are in the World Cup team. Muhammad Haris, who plays for Peshawar Zalmi, Mehran Mumtaz, who plays for Peshawar Zalmi, these are almost 9 boys. Where is this friendliness? It's just bravery. 

"Listen, when he was removed from the captaincy, almost all of these boys used to play in the team. Was there friendliness at that time? Is there friendliness now?  Let me tell you something. Is Shaheen Afridi in the team because of Babar's friendliness? No. Is Haris Rauf in the team because of Babar's friendliness? I don't think so. Naseem Shah, Fakhar Zaman, Rizwan, and Saim Ayub,  are they in the team because of Babar's friendliness? They are playing with their performance. This is not friendliness." 

Wahab Riaz kept calling Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim to join the team - Tanvir Ahmed 

Tanvir Ahmed also talked about the place of Shahdab Khan in the XI and claimed that people are saying the all-rounder doesn't let Abrar Ahmed play. He also made a bold claim, saying that selector Wahab Riaz is the main culprit as he brought back Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim to the team. He added: 

"Now, let's talk about Shadab. Let me stick to Shadab. You say that Shadab is in the team because of his friendliness. He is not letting Abrar play. Only one player, when he was removed from the captaincy, all of these boys were playing. And when he came back to the team, none of them were in the team. 

"Amir came back. Imad came back. They were not in the captaincy of Babar Azam. They were anti-team. Who brought them? Wahab Riaz? Abdul Razzaq? Wahab Riaz kept calling them to join the team. So, Babar Azam didn't bring them. They were against Babar Azam sitting on the TV. That he is not a player of T20. He should not be in the T20 team. He doesn't have this. So, ask Wahab Riaz," he concluded

Kitney dost yar hain team main batana zara jinhon ney shure machaya howa ha dost yar dost yar pic.twitter.com/U2Xli5syLg

— Tanveer Says (@ImTanveerA) June 14, 2024