Babar Azam in trouble as Waqar Younis declares war on favoritism in Team Pakistan

Former Pakistan cricketer Waqar Younis has given a big statement after joining the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) as the Chief Cricket Officer. Younis was quite clear in his approach that he would be trying to get rid of the favoritism in Pakistan cricket.

Pakistan cricket team is going through a tough time in the past few months. The team's performance has gradually gone down over the last year which has resulted in their early elimination of both the ICC tournaments they have played.

As a result, the PCB has roped in Waqar as the board's Chief Cricket Officer for the time being. He will work as an advisor to the chairman Mohsin Naqvi. His role is considered to be quite similar to the one Rob Key has for the ECB as its managing director.

Also read: Pakistan players to undergo rigorous fitness test before Bangladesh series

Waqar Younis gives a big statement after signing his new role at PCB

After joining his new role, Waqar Younis was clear in his approach that the board will manage the workload of the players from now onwards. He also aims to get rid of the favoritism culture in Pakistan cricket.

"Our selection criteria is simple. We will manage workload of the players too. And we will try to get rid of this favouritism and liking and disliking culture," Waqar Younis said as quoted by PakPassion.net.

"Our selection criteria is simple. We will manage workload of the players too. And we will try to get rid of this favouritism and liking and disliking culture." - Waqar Younis🗣#PakPassion pic.twitter.com/YLGdrUdman

— PakPassion.net (@PakPassion) August 5, 2024

PCB denied the NOCs to star players citing workload management

By managing the workload, it is possible that the board might deny NOCs to the players in various T20 leagues. Recently, the PCB refused to give No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan for the Global T20 in Canada.

The PCB had taken this decision after consulting with all these star players. The board cited the packed international schedule as the reason for denying the NOCs. All these players play all the formats of the game. Thus, the PCB wanted to manage their workload and keep them fresh ahead of a busy international schedule.

Apart from managing the workload, there has been an issue of favoritism that is popping out of the team squad. Skipper Babar Azam has been heavily criticized for favoring certain players despite their below-par performances.

Pakistan were disappointing in the T20 World Cup 2024 where they bowed out of the group stage after losing to USA and India in their first two games. Despite winning their next two matches against Canada and Ireland, the Men in Green failed to qualify for the Super 8 stage as they finished third in their group behind India and USA.

Even in the ODI World Cup last year, Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals and even suffered a shocking defeat to Afghanistan. Babar Azam was Pakistan's captain in both these tournaments and his captaincy is already under the scanner.