Pakistan cricket team is always known to evoke high emotions from its fans and countrymen. Recently Imam-ul-Haq and Ahmed Shehzad got into a heated argument over national skipper Babar Azam.
The incident happened during a TV show where the two stars along with former player Imran Nazir were speaking about Pakistan’s T20 World Cup chances. The Pakistanis will begin their campaign as they take on co-hosts United States of America.
One of the questions was about how Babar Azam picks the team and the host asked if the Pakistani skipper prefers to pick his favourite stars. Ahmed Shehzad saw this as a chance to reveal how the selection is done.
Ahmed Shehzad said, “Speaking of Babar Azam, there is friendship. Look, he is carrying players for a long run. The players are out of form for a long time. It doesn’t look good”. This response evoked a strong silence from everyone in the room for a few seconds.
Imam-ul-Haq comes up with a strong counter to Ahmed Shehzad
The discarded Pakistani opener kept on his attack at Babar Azam during the TV show when he said “If I count the number of matches, you’ll realize players don’t get that long run. If there were any other captain, he wouldn’t have carried players for 35-40 games. He should have thought about himself”
Ahmed Shehzad also questioned how many times Pakistan have won the ICC title in the last 5 years. “We don’t play cricket to win bilateral series but to win ICC events. Did we win any event in the last 4-5 years? If we didn’t win, I would say there are gangs, friendships, and tola with an agent who has been manipulating cricket for the last 4-5 years”
It was at this moment Imam came into the picture and defended Babar Azam. “Babar was removed without his consent and reinstated without his consent as well. The board re-appointed him as captain. In 2021, we reached the semifinals. Later in 2022, we played the final, which means there were performances. We didn’t win, that can be a debate. We didn’t click in the final. You can say Babar likes these lot of players but terming it as friendship is quite personal”
The conversation took a more series turn when Ahmed Shehzad said “We understand that Imam is in a central contract, he is young. We spoke the same when were at his age. I’m 34, sick and tired of things. We want things to be better. When you drag players for 4-5 years, you do wrong with those performing in domestic. Someone else takes their rights”
Imam-ul-Haq had the final say on the matter when he opined "I am in a central contract. I have been playing for the last 6-7 years but I promise you that when I’ll be 36, my stand will be the same. If someone has a problem, they can speak if they are 28 as well. Why don’t you say that?"
/sportsinfo/media/member_avatars/image 59.png)
Follow Us/sportsinfo/media/media_files/wQcMveHMTVUHsOuAun1n.png)