Shahid Afridi, Waqar Younis furious over Babar chat leak controversy

Former Pakistani cricketers Shahid Afridi and Waqar Younis on Monday lambasted those responsible for leaking skipper Babar Azam's private chat leak with a senior Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official.

A day earlier, Babar's chat with a senior PCB official was aired on a private news channel where the Green Shirts' skipper refuted the rumours that he tried calling PCB Management Committee Chairman Zaka Ashraf when asked about whether the latter was ignoring his calls.

The anchor received widespread flak from netizens and former cricketers alike who were furious over the "unethical" act of leaking a private chat between two individuals that also violates both moral and professional values that journalists are expected to abide by.

Joining other cricketers to call the irresponsible behaviour of the channel, anchorperson, and journalists, Younis, too, took to X, formerly Twitter, to share his displeasure.

"What are you guys trying to do??? This is pathetic!!! You guys are happy now. Please leave Babar Azam alone. He's an asset of Pakistan Cricket," the veteran cricketer said, adding the X handles of PCB, the private television channel and its owner in his post.

On the other hand, Shahid Afridi, while talking on a private channel termed the act as "disgraceful".

"We are defaming our own country and players ourselves. How can you show someone's private messages? Did the chairman tell the journalist? If the chairman did so, it's a very disgraceful act."

Later, on his X account, he asked: "Don't we all deserve much better — both on and off the field?" 

Meanwhile, Azhar Ali, a veteran Test cricketer and a panelist in the same show, also questioned if consent was taken from Babar before the screenshot was sent to the journalist who works for the said TV channel.

"Did they take Babar's permission before forwarding the message to him?" Ali asked while pointing towards the journalist who shared the chat with the channel's team.

The Test cricketer also asked if Babar's consent was taken before displaying the alleged message on air, as it was a "personal message".

The journalist, however, defended his act saying that it is his "job" to run something when received. "He did not send the personal message to me."

Chat-leak controversy

It is pertinent to know that reports were circulating on social media, which gained strength after former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif’s comments, that the senior management of the PCB was ignoring Babar's messages.

The controversy, however, arose when Babar's private WhatsApp chat, with a senior PCB official, was aired and publicly debated on a private news channel.

The chat showed text messages exchanged between the duo where the skipper denied calling the committee chairman when asked about the rumours that he was trying to call the board's chief with the latter answering his calls.

"Babar, there’s also been this news circulating on TV and social media that you have been calling Chairman and he’s not answering. Have you called him recently?”

Responding to this Babar said: “Salam Salman bhai, ma nay to sir ko koi call nai ke [Salam Salman bhai, I have not made any calls to sir].”

The anchor, Waseem Badami, later apologized for the "wrong decision" to air a private chat between two individuals.

"It was a private convo, it shouldn’t have been aired without consent," Badami said.

“So, if it had hurt anyone. I apologise from the core of my heart and I’m not just proud of it […] we are not proud of it,” he added.