The Pakistan cricket team’s preparations for the ODI World Cup might suffer a big hit with less than a month to go, as the dressing room becomes divided following a furious disagreement between skipper Babar Azam and speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi. The reported exchange occurred during the last-ball setback to Sri Lanka on Thursday, September 14, paving the door for the team’s elimination from the Asia Cup. Both Afridi and Babar were believed to have exchanged words in the locker room following the game.
What exactly happened?
According to numerous news outlets, Babar cautioned players after the close defeat that they were not playing responsibly. A win for Pakistan would have qualified them for the final against arch-rivals India on Sunday, but they lost on the last ball against Sri Lanka. Shaheen responded to Babar’s statement by saying, ‘at least appreciate who bowled and batted well.’
The interruption did not go well for Babar, who responded, ‘I know who’s performing well’. The players came together in a fight of words, with no physical battle taking place. According to reports, senior wicketkeeper-batter Mohammed Rizwan separated the two and halted the spat.
Pakistan’s humiliating departure from the Asia Cup
The official hosts had a difficult campaign in the Asia Cup Super Four stage, suffering their heaviest loss in the ODI format against India. Babar’s men were defeated by India by a record margin of 228 runs in the Super Four match.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s biggest worry came true when pacer Naseem Shah was reportedly ruled out of the World Cup in India owing to a shoulder injury. Following tests in Dubai, the results proved to be worse than predicted, indicating that Naseem could be out of action for a lengthy amount of time, most likely the rest of this year. Naseem’s injury occurred at a time when Pakistan cricket was in a good place heading into the big event.