Pakistan cricket team has been eliminated from the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the group stage itself.

To stay alive in the Super 8 race, the 2009 champions needed Ireland to beat the United States in Florida. However, inclement weather played spoilsport as the match ended in a no-result, pushing USA to the next round alongside India from Group A.

The Men in Green paid the price for a Super Over loss against USA in their campaign opener, followed by a nervy six-run defeat at the hands of arch-rivals India.

Following the first-round exit, Babar Azam and his men are facing backlash from the fans and former cricketers alike.

Amid the scrutiny, a report published in PTI claims that several senior members of Pakistan's T20 World Cup squad, including captain Babar, wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan and pace spearhead Shaheen Afridi may be rested for the home Test series against Bangladesh in August.

According to the report, the PCB is in touch with Test skipper Shan Masood, who is in England leading county side Yorkshire, and new red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie to finalise plans for the Bangladesh series.

"One of the proposals being considered is giving rest to some senior players namely Babar, Shaheen, Rizwan etc and instead trying out those players who are uncapped or have just played a few internationals for Pakistan," PTI quoted a source as saying.

"But, no final decision has been taken because in the end Masood and Gillespie will make the final call on the team selection, as in next few weeks the number of national selectors could also be reduced and the PCB might revert back to the old system of selection process," he added.

The source also mentioned that the PCB will consult Gillespie and white-ball coach Gary Kirsten to chalk out plans for the ICC Champions Trophy in February-March next year.

Before the showpiece tournament, Pakistan will host Bangladesh and England for five Tests. They will then tour Australia for a white-ball series before going to South Africa for a Test and white-ball series.

Pakistan will return home in January to host South Africa and New Zealand in a 50-over Triangular series before the Champions Trophy. Following the ICC event, Pakistan will host West Indies for two Tests and white-ball matches. Subsequently, the 2025 edition of Pakistan Super League will take place.

"The main thing is to finalise a workload system chart for the players with reference to their availability for Pakistan team and their contracts in franchise-based leagues in this period," the source said.

"The next few weeks in Pakistan cricket will be very important and interesting because it appears that the PCB is also waiting for Babar Azam to take a call on captaincy himself before they can discuss the future white-ball captain," he said.

PCB has reportedly asked Kirsten to submit a detailed report on the team culture, individual behaviour of players, their attitude and skill levels and also what changes can be made to improve team’s white-ball performance.

(With PTI Inputs)