Pakistan finished the Asia Cup 2023 Super 4s at the bottom.
The Men in Green started the Super 4 round with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh but the 228-run thrashing at the hands of arch-rivals India dented their confidence.
The heartbreaking two-wicket defeat against Sri Lanka on Thursday (September 14) eventually knocked them out of the competition. The Babar Azam-led side finished the Super 4 table at the bottom following India’s loss to Bangladesh.
In the aftermath of Pakistan’s exit from the continental tournament, there have been reports coming from the national media that a rift has ensued in the dressing room, with Babar facing some resistance from fellow players.
While nothing substantial has emerged so far, former Pakistan wicketkeeper Moin Khan detailed about the same during an appearance on Geo TV.
“You can rectify it before the World Cup. If there are differences and you sort them out before the big event, it helps in uniting the team even more. But of course, it's not good for the team that dressing room arguments are come out in media. If players have an issue with Babar, or if Babar is not handling the issue well in absence of head coach or team director, it's unfortunate because it's their job to intervene in such things. They have to be in dressing room to take care of these things,” Moin said.
“If I'm the captain, and you don't perform well, I'll take your name, look at you in the eye, but calmly tell you that we have a lot of expectations from you and we back you, but you need to perform better. But if I'm talking about you while not paying much attention to you, you'd feel offended. You'd think I'm making fun of you in front of others. Everyone has an ego. Man management is very important for Babar as well,” he added.
Moin felt the Pakistan captain was isolated throughout his time on the field during the Asia Cup games.
“We saw in the entire tournament, I've commented about it earlier as well… no player walked towards Babar. Neither Rizwan came to him, nor even the vice-captain was coming to him. No one was going to him. It felt everyone was scattered, there was no unity,” he further stated.