Pakistan cricket team in action during Asia Cup 2023© AFP
The Pakistan cricket team had a disappointing run in the Asia Cup 2023 as they were eliminated after losing to India and Sri Lanka in the Super 4 stage of the competition. Some star players were not able to perform well for the national side and according to a report on Geo.tv, star fast bowler Shaheen Afridi is all set to replace Shadab Khan as the team’s vice-captain for Cricket World Cup 2023. The report further claimed that Pakistan’s World Cup squad can look like this – Babar Azam (c), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdulla Shafiq, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hassan Ali, Zaman Khan.
Shadab did not have a good outing with few wickets and a very high economy rate. He was taken to the cleaners by Virat Kohli and KL Rahul during the one-sided match between India and Pakistan.
There were also some reports of conflict among the ranks after the competition.
according to a report of Pakistan media outlet Bol News, Pakistan captain Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were engaged in a war of words after the defeat to Sri Lanka. According to the report, after the loss, Babar questioned the role of the senior players in the Asia Cup 2023 campaign.
However, Shaheen interrupted him and said he should not generalise and not criticises those who did well. Babar then replied that he is well aware about who is doing well and who’s not.
The report added that Babar, went to the press conference after the loss, and on his way to the hotel did not talk to anybody.
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