Former Pakistan Cricketer Slams Both Babar Azam And Shahid Afridi Over Controversial Shan Masood Incident

Babar was asked about Shan Masood during the press conference, who was recently named vice-captain of the ODI squad for the series against New Zealand. However, the Pakistan skipper questioned Shan's inclusion in the team itself.

New Delhi: Babar Azam attended the press conference prior to Sunday’s first ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand in the series. As Pakistan and New Zealand played out a 0-0 Test series draw, the captain detailed the team’s most recent outings in the longest format, after the team failed to win a single Test at home during the 2021-23 World Test Championship cycle, Babar is getting more and more surrounded by questions for his captaincy.

Babar was also asked about Shan Masood during the press conference, who was recently named vice-captain of the ODI squad for the series against New Zealand. However, the Pakistan skipper questioned Shan’s inclusion in the team itself.

“We can’t talk about any individual at the moment, whether he’s vice-captain or X, Y, Z,” Babar said on Sunday. “We will try to field our best playing 11 and try to win the series,” Babar further added.

Fans and former cricketers expressed similar questions about the current situation between the Pakistan skipper and the Pakistan Cricket Board after Babar’s comment, and Sikander Bakht, a former Pakistan player, criticized both Babar and Afridi over the incident.

“It’s not a good statement. It’s actually very weird that you made him the vice-captain of the team… did Shahid Afridi not ask Babar before making Shan the vice-captain? He should’ve asked. Now Babar is saying he doesn’t know whether he is in the team or not. It’s not a good thing,” Bakht addressed the matter on Geo Super.

“I’ll request Shahid Afridi and the board to talk to Babar, not create a political scenario here. Talk and then take a decision. We are all Pakistanis, we will support every player,” Bakht further added.