Pakistan Cricket. (Source – Twitter/X)
The confirmation of a rift within the Pakistan men’s cricket team is getting stronger with each passing day. On Day 4 of the first Test against Bangladesh at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, captain Shan Masood was spotted having an animated argument with head coach Jason Gillespie. On the following day, Shaheen Shah Afridi was seen removing Masood’s hand from his shoulder during a team huddle.
Things are not looking good for the Pakistan team at the moment. After an embarrassing exit from the T20 World Cup, former cricketer Wasim Akram indicated that players in the dressing room have a beef against each other. It all started with Babar Azam being reinstated as the captain of the national team.
When there is no unity!
There is no will!#PAKvsBAN pic.twitter.com/G4m2sjLyyC
— Shaharyar Azhar (@azhar_shaharyar) August 25, 2024
After flopping in the ODI World Cup 2023, the 29-year-old stepped down as captain from all three formats of the game. Masood was appointed as the red-ball captain, while Shaheen was made the leader of the white-ball format. However, after a 4-1 defeat to New Zealand in the T20I series, Shaheen was surprisingly removed after just one series.
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Babar was brought in charge which infuriated some of the former cricketers including Shahid Afridi. He is also the father-in-law of Shaheen and after the T20 World Cup 2024, the 47-year-old noted that Babar should have trusted Shaheen with the captaincy and not once again take charge. It indicated Shaheen having an issue with Babar as well, but neither of them clarified.
After the T20 World Cup, things reportedly intensified, especially as Babar flopped heavily to display a quality leadership. It is now reflected in the Test team as well, especially as Pakistan suffered a humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of Bangladesh.
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They flopped with the bat, which resulted in the visitors chasing just 30 runs in the final innings of the game. With that, Bangladesh took a 1-0 lead in the series and Pakistan’s wait to win a Test at home extended to 1294 days.