After Pakistan’s exit from the Asia Cup, Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi got into a heated argument: reports

Pakistan was listed as the best ODI squad and one of the favorites to win the Asia Cup in 2023 just a few weeks ago. However, it seems that their elimination from the Asia Cup has disturbed paradise. With only one victory, Babar Azam’s team placed bottom in the Super 4 points standings.

After the team’s loss against Sri Lanka, which resulted in their elimination from the Asia Cup 2023, Babar and Shaheen Shah Afridi reportedly got into a furious dispute in the locker room, according to sources in Pakistani media.

After the team was eliminated from the Asia Cup, according to Pakistani media site Bolnews, Babar and Shaheen got into a fight, and Mohammad Rizwan had to mediate a resolution.

According to the source, Babar was very dissatisfied with the senior players’ performances. The 28-year-old expressed his anger to the Pakistani team’s leaders and pushed them to play better.

Shaheen Shah Afridi allegedly advised Babar to at least commend the players who had bowled and batted well before things apparently got out of hand. The source added that Babar was upset when Shaheen stopped him, but the captain answered that he knew exactly who was underperforming and who needed to stand up.

Rizwan and head coach Grant Bradburn stepped in when they saw that things were getting out of hand. After that, Babar departed for the press conference and, without speaking to any of the players, proceeded directly to the team bus and the hotel.

Zaka Ashraf, the president of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has established a cricket committee that will evaluate the performance of the Pakistani team in the 2023 Asia Cup and decide which players may be added to or dropped from the team before the ICC ODI World Cup in India.

After defeating Nepal to start the Asia Cup off well, Pakistan gave the Indian squad plenty of trouble in the group stage match that was abandoned. They defeated Bangladesh to win the group and were defeated by India by 288 runs, which was their worst loss to the Men in Blue in ODI cricket. The team of Babar was then eliminated by another close defeat against Sri Lanka.

Babar has a lot of challenges to deal with with less than a month till the ODI World Cup, including the health concerns of prominent players like Naseem Shah, who is probably going to miss the World Cup due to a shoulder injury, and Haris Rauf, who is also not totally fit.