Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on Sunday, announced that they have reappointed Babar Azam as the country's white-ball captain.
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Azam left the national team's captaincy after Pakistan crashed out of the 2023 ODI World Cup from the league stage. He was replaced by Shaheen Afridi and Shan Masood. While Afridi took charge of the white-ball sides, Masoon was handed the responsibility of managing the red-ball side.
But after just one tour of Australia, PCB decided to bring back Babar in charge replacing Afridi.
With the ongoing captaincy saga at its peak in Pakistan, former cricketer Sikander Bakht has warned the cricket board to resolve the issue as soon as possible to avoid dire consequences.
MORE: What is the Shaheen Afridi - PCB fake statement issue?
Did Pakistan deliberately lose a match 30 years back over captaincy row? What did Sikander Bakht said?
Speaking on a Pakistani news channel, the former player cited an example from 30 years back when the Pakistan cricket team suffered heavily due to a captaincy row between two big names in the team.
Bakht alleged that due to an ongoing tussle between two top names in the team, Pakistan reportedly lost an international match deliberately. He did not name the two players nor mention the opposition's name.
Bakht said,
The exact same scenario existed 30 years back. There were two big players, one bowler and a batsman. There was infighting over the captaincy of the team. I was on the ground and the match was going on. I told one of my colleagues that we were winning this one so he in turn told me, 'We will see how we win'. And yes, we lost the game. I won't take any names but he did say 'We will see how we win'.
It is shameful that you deliberately lost the game for Pakistan. But this happens when you make such divisions in the team. This is a sign of a weak cricket board. Nobody is bigger than Pakistan. We all remember how Babar performed at the World Cup. He scored 320 runs. Abdullah Shafique scored 336, Muhammad Rizwan 395. Seven other players scored 500 or more while six other players hit 400 or more runs.
This was his performance and despite that if he wants to come back, it is his wish. PCB should consider if any player is bigger than the Pakistan team. I urge them to step up and intervene. They could have appointed someone neutral.
What next for Pakistan cricket team?
Pakistan are all set to take on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series starting April 18.