According to a PTI report, Pakistan will bench veteran players Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi from their upcoming T20 World Cup encounter against Namibia due to their poor performance in the crucial match against India in Colombo.
A trustworthy source in the team management told the news agency on Monday that the team manager Naved Akram Cheema received a message from Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi expressing his dissatisfaction with the squad’s performance during the 61-run defeat to India.
“The Chairman left the match early at the Premadasa stadium as it became obvious Pakistan were going to face another defeat to India,” PTI quoted the source as saying.
According to him, Naqvi further informed the management through a senior PCB official that such performances in the relevant matches were neither acceptable or understandable.
According to the source, head coach Mike Hesson also reminded the players in the dressing room that they hadn’t performed to their full potential.
“Late night the management think tank decided enough was enough and it was to bench Babar and Shaheen and try out Salman Mirza/Naseem Shah and Fakhar Zaman against Namibia on Wednesday,” he said.
The management is eager to try out young Khawaja Nafay in the middle order, so if the alterations work, Babar and Shaheen’s World Cup will be over, the source stated.
If Pakistan hopes to advance to the tournament’s super eight stage, they cannot afford to make any mistakes against Namibia. Before suffering a crushing setback to India, the team defeated the Netherlands and the lower-ranked USA.
