Pakistan has lost three games out of five in the World Cup thus far.
Ahmed Shehzad made some explosive revelations about groupism and unwelcoming atmosphere within the Pakistan cricket team dressing room, given the heavy criticism of the team’s poor performance in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.
Shehzad boldly claimed that a chosen few among Pakistan's players are bestowed with privileged treatment; the others are not welcomed in the dressing room. Such players are exposed to difficult situations on the field to be eventually dropped from the playing XI.
Read Also: CWC 2023: WATCH- 'I heard Babar Azam cried after loss to Afghanistan'- Mohammad Yousuf
Ahmed Shehzad said on the Pakistani news channel ARY News: “I've talked to some players. Few players are not welcome in the dressing room. They aren't given the same level of treatment and confidence as some others. They try to keep certain players in the team and drop the others. Tayyab Tahir was brought in, he wasn't welcome, and was excluded.”
His comments came after Pakistan lost three matches in a row in the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, slimming their semifinal chances, which led captain Babar Azam to face heat from the fans and cricketers.
He continued, “Saud Shakeel was brought in based on his Test performances. Usama Mir, we had been saying to give him chances before the World Cup to give him confidence... see, Usama is a wrist-spinner. He's more effective when the ball is old. And he is brought in the 11th over. They're trying to save certain players and expose these players instead.”
Shehzad concluded, “We had been saying for quite some time that bring in Abrar Ahmad, mystery spinner is needed. These are our colleagues, these are our friends, and these are not welcome.”
Be it Wasim Akram, Misbah ul Haq, Ramiz Raja, Rashid Latif, Muhammad Hafeez, Aaqib Javed, Shoaib Malik, Moin Khan or Shoaib Akhtar, captain Babar Azam has been blamed by all quarters in Pakistani cricket for the team's [or performance in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023.