'Treatment With Babar Azam Was Unjust' - Shoaib Akhtar Slams PCB 

Former Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Akhtar talked about Babar Azam stepping down as the skipper for the team in all three formats. He said that the treatment that the Pakistan Cricket Board gave to him was unjust and he shouldn’t have been pushed to resign.

Pakistan’s poor outing in the ICC World Cup 2023 made Babar Azam step down as the captain of the team in all three formats of the game. The right-hander gave his resignation after reaching back home and said that he would continue to give his best as a player to the team.

Various reports suggested that PCB wanted Babar Azam to captain in the Test but he didn’t want to do it in one format. Therefore he had to step down. There was a lot of external pressure on him as well as many lashed out at him for the team’s ouster in the tournament.

Shoaib Akhtar said that Babar Azam shouldn’t have been removed from the Test captaincy even though he didn’t want to captain in all three formats. He explained (as quoted by Cricket Pakistan):

“The treatment with Babar Azam was unjust. I categorically say that in such a short time, he should not have been removed from the captaincy of Test matches. Even though he said he didn’t want captaincy of all formats and the board was insisting on him captaining Test matches, he shouldn’t have resigned, and he shouldn’t have been pushed out.”

They should have given him 1.5 months – Shoaib Akhtar on Babar Azam

Shoaib Akhtar further said that PCB should’ve given Babar Azam 1.5 months before taking the captaincy from him. He highlighted how similar things have been happening in Pakistan cricket in the past. He concluded by saying that had he been there, he would’ve given him time to resolve the issues. He elaborated:

“They should have given him 1.5 months without saying a word, but the board didn’t do that. We are experts in removing someone from their position and this is how the entire management of Pakistan works, just remove and banish. There has been injustice with Babar. If I were there, I would have given him this month and then worked on a new strategy because now there will be talk of resolving the rift.”

After Babar Azam stepped down as the leader of the team, PCB immediately named Shaan Masood as the Test captain and Shaheen Afridi as the T20I skipper.