Cricket woes

Just two months before the start of the ICCTwenty20 World Cup, the year’s biggest cricketing event, Pakistan cricket has done what it does best – scored an own goal. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) caused unnecessary controversy by announcing on Sunday that it had replaced Shaheen Shah Afridi with Babar Azam as the national team’s white-ball captain. While Babar’s appointment was entirely expected, it was the manner in which the captaincy announcement was made that caused the controversy. The PCB claimed in a media release that Shaheen fully supported the decision and even went to the extent of quoting him. The problem was that Shaheen wasn’t consulted about it and the star pacer was apparently displeased with the way the entire episode was handled. All of this was, as always happens, also leaked to the media, adding to the PCB’s embarrassment.

The problem with Pakistan cricket is that a lot of times it is consumed by its own unforced errors. With just weeks to go to the T20 World Cup to be held in US and West Indies from June 1-29, Pakistan should have been looking to find ways and means to field a squad capable enough of regaining the coveted title it has won only once back in 2009. Pakistan flopped at the 50-over World Cup in India last year and will be looking to avoid another failure this summer. It was after the 2023 World Cup debacle that Pakistan brought in Shaheen as T20 captain after the embattled Babar was forced to resign as the all-format skipper. Under Shaheen, Pakistan lost a sole T20 series in New Zealand. He also failed to inspire Lahore Qalandars in PSL Season 9 as under him the defending champions went down without a whimper. These seemed enough reasons for PCB to dump him and bring back Babar, who was accused of favouritism during his previous tenure as captain.

By reappointing him, the PCB seems to have made the safest possible call considering that Babar is the team’s premier batter and has the most leadership experience among the current lot. As captain, however, Babar is a polarizing figure. He failed both as captain and ace batter as Pakistan flopped in two major events last year – Asia Cup and World Cup – back-to-back. Currently, there is not much that suggests things would turn out differently in the T20 World Cup. However, there are still two months to go before the World Cup and what Babar and his team need to do is to quickly resolve any differences and start taking measures to put forward a solid team for the event. Only a well-oiled and well-drilled outfit can go all the way in a World Cup. Another crucial factor will be team unity. Babar, Shaheen and other senior players will need to put away any differences between them and work towards the team’s cause. And the PCB can help by not adding any more fuel to the fire.