PAK vs AUS: Bomb Hits PCB! Zaka Ashraf’s Audio Clip On Babar Azam Leaked Online

Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam’s dismal form with the bat in the 2023 ODI World Cup was one of the major reasons behind his stepping down from captaincy. However, PCB and chairman Zaka Ashraf are alleged to have planned a trap for Babar and forced him to step down from captaincy.

However, controversies in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) are not new, and amidst the team’s Australia tour, another controversy has knocked on the doors of Pakistan cricket’s governing body. In an audio leak, which was reported to be of PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, he is revealing the reason behind the removal of Babar Azam from the captaincy in all three formats of international cricket.

Another controversy knocks on the doors of PCB

In the 2-minute 15-second-long audio clip that is getting viral on social media, Zaka Ashraf was heard alleging Hasan Ali’s place in the team due to his friendship with Babar Azam. The voice recording said:

“Hassan Ali played because he is Babar Azam’s friend. There is a person called Talha (Rehmani) who is an agent. He has 8 national team players under his control. He even goes to the homes of players and has good relations with their families as well. And the players don’t even move without taking his permission.

“When I told Babar Azam to remain the Test skipper but leave white-ball captaincy, he told me that he will let me know after speaking to his family but he went to his manager Talha Usmani, who told him to leave the captaincy from all formats. If Babar quit, I already had plan B ready,” he told his relatives.

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فاختہ چئیرمین پی سی بی مینجمنٹ کمیٹی ذکاء اشرف صاحب کی مبینہ آڈیو منظر عام پر لے آئی. کیسے انہوں نے پلاننگ کی.کیسے محمد رضوان کو وائیٹ بال کی کپتانی نہ کرنے دی.بابر اعظم کے خلاف کونسا پلان بی تیار تھا فاختہ سب منظر عام پر لے آئی،،،@TalhaAisham
پر الزام عائد کیا کہ… pic.twitter.com/Uh83UwKfQU

— Qadir Khawaja (@iamqadirkhawaja) December 18, 2023

Babar Azam’s poor show with the bat continues

However, Babar Azam’s woes with the bat continued even after stepping down from captaincy as the latter was only able to score 21 and 14 runs respectively in both innings of the Perth Test. Shan Masood’s new journey as Pakistan’s Test captain didn’t get a good start as Pakistan lost to Australia by 360 runs in a dominant manner.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan National Cricket Team are all set to lock horns with Victoria XI in a two-day practice match ahead of the second Test of the three-match series against the Australia National Cricket Team. The Shan Masood-led Pakistan are scheduled to play the second Test against the Aussies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26.

Notably, Pakistan have not been in great form in international cricket for the last few months. The ‘Men in Green’ were knocked out from the Super 4s stage of the 2023 Asia Cup and were only able to win against low-ranked teams such as Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The same journey continued in the CWC 2023 wherein Pakistan were once again knocked out of the tournament in the round-robin phase and also lost four matches on a trot.

The Pakistani pace battery which was known for its pace and was the team’s key strength, became a weakness and the team lost matches due to the poor performance of the pacers.