Babar Azam refused to drop underperforming players: Ex-PCB chairman's explosive revelation

Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has opened up on Babar Azam's stubborn nature as Pakistan captain. Ashraf claimed that Babar Azam was asked to remove a few underperforming players from the team but the Pakistan captain refused to do so.

Zaka Ashraf was the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) during the ODI World Cup 2023, which was played in India. Before the World Cup, the Asia Cup was played in which Pakistan performed poorly and could not qualify for the final.

Pakistan's disappointing performance continued in the World Cup as the team failed to qualify for the semi-final. As a result, Babar's captaincy came under the scanner and experts demanded his resignation from the role.

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Zaka Ashraf breaks silence on Babar Azam's stubborn nature

During a discussion on Pakistan's Samaa TV, Zaka Ashraf remembered the time when he was PCB's chairman and Babar was the team's captain. Ashraf revealed that he had asked Babar to remove the underperforming players from the team but Babar did not agree to him.

"The World Cup (2023) was about to come. So, I didn't change anything. When we lost in the Asia Cup (2023), I called Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, and Misbah-ul-Haq. We all decided and asked Babar to remove some players before going to the World Cup as their performance was not up to the mark," Ashraf said.

Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf says he suggested captain Babar Azam to remove underperforming players from the team before World Cup in India. But Babar refused straight away and carried those players. Pakistan lost in the first round 🇵🇰🤯🤯#PAKvBAN pic.twitter.com/ZHjgZCn5TX

— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) September 2, 2024

Ashraf further revealed that he allowed Babar to carry on with the same players as the World Cup was around the corner.

"But Babar Azam took a stand that he won't allow any player to be removed. When he took the stand, we asked him to complete the World Cup as it was around the corner, and said when you will come back, we will decide what is better for Pakistan cricket," he added.

Pakistan's performance under the leadership of Babar Azam

Pakistan finished fifth in the ODI World Cup 2023. After the World Cup, Babar stepped down from captaincy in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is. Shaheen Afridi was appointed Pakistan's new T20I captain and Shan Masood took charge of the Test team.

However, just before the T20 World Cup 2024, Babar was reinstated back as Pakistan's T20I captain under the new PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. But Pakistan's performance did not improve as they were eliminated from the group stage of the tournament and failed to qualify for the Super Eight stage.

Mohammad Wasim calls Babar Azam "very stubborn"

Recently, former Pakistan's chief selector Mohammad Wasim had also accused Babar of being stubborn and not accepting the changes in the team.

“It was painful to make him understand the advantages of changes. He was very stubborn, and I overstepped my limitations to get him on board with certain calls,” Wasim had said.

Pakistan cricket is going through a rough patch currently. The team is playing a two-match Test series against Bangladesh currently in which they are trailing 0-1 in the two-match series.