Babar Azam has taken revenge against Shaheen Afridi, says Rashid Latif

Former cricketer Rashid Latif believes Babar Azam has taken revenge against Shaheen Afridi by accepting captaincy in the white-ball format.

The Pakistan Cricket Board recently appointed Azam as the new leader for white-ball cricket, replacing Afridi in T20Is. Azam had previously relinquished his captaincy across all formats following Pakistan's disappointing performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. Afridi took over the T20I captaincy while Shan Masood was appointed for red-ball cricket.

Afridi's tenure as T20I captain faced criticism after Pakistan's underwhelming series in New Zealand and Lahore Qalandars' poor performance in the Pakistan Super League. Eventually, Azam replaced Afridi as T20I captain.

"Shadab Khan made a smart statement when he lost the series against Afghanistan. He stood up and said, 'Without Babar and Rizwan, this team isn't complete.' That means I'm not the captain. The same I was expecting from Shaheen when Babar was removed. If Shaheen had taken that step that day, he wouldn't be seeing all this today. No matter how much friendship there is, Babar has taken revenge [against Shaheen]," Latif said.

“Shaheen was treated unfairly and so was Babar,” he added.

Latif expresses concern about the team's cohesion, suggesting it may crumble if they don't win the upcoming 2024 T20 World Cup.

"I see this team falling apart. If they don't win the World Cup, they'll be seen crumbling. Winning the match against India is necessary. It feels like the 90s era has returned," he said.