Pakistan cricket seems to be going from bad to worse.
On the field, in the ongoing ICC ODI World Cup, they are on the brink of elimination. Having lost four matches in a row, they not only need to win the remaining three by huge margins, but also hope other results go in their favour.
Amid the criticism over the Babar Azam-led side's poor performance so far in the ODI World Cup in India, former Pakistan legend Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned as the chairman of the national selection committee yesterday. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is probing if his association with a company that manages a number of national team players pertains to conflict of interest.
Inzamam is associated with the company Yazoo International, where he shares the same agent - Talha Rehmani - who manages Azam, pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan.
Rizwan, in fact, is also a partner in the company formed in December 2020.
Inzamam has insisted that his association with Rehmani has never affected his decision-making as a selector.
However, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf has said there are indications that Rehmani could have influenced selection of players in the Pakistan team.
Leaked WhatsApp chats
Skipper Azam has been facing a lot of criticism for the team's performance and his captaincy. Speculation is rife that he will be sacked after the tournament. To add to his woes, his alleged personal WhatsApp chats have been leaked in the media. The chat, purportedly, between Azam and PCB Chief Operating Officer Salman Naseer, was aired during a talk show on a Pakistani news channel ARY NEWS.
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif had claimed earlier that Ashraf was not responding to Azam's calls, and there was a tiff going on between them. It was in this context that Naseer, reportedly, let out the WhatsApp chat to prove Latif wrong.
"Babar, there's also been this news circulating on TV and social media that you have been calling the chairman and he's not answering. Have you called him recently," Naseer was seen asking the Pakistan captain. "Salam Salman bhai! Maine toh sir ko call nahi kara (Greetings Salman! I did not make any such calls to sir)", was Azam's reply.
The news channel's decision to air the chat did not go down well with former Pakistan greats like Waqar Younis and Shahid Afridi.
“It is a pathetic move. If it has been done by PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, then it is very sad,” Afridi told SAMAA TV. “How can you leak someone’s private messages, that too of captain Babar Azam. It is the board that is defaming our players.”
Latif has also claimed that the players have not been paid their salaries for the past five months, and that they have been told that their central contracts are being reconsidered.
The PCB is yet to comment on the issue.