By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Pakistan cricket was plunged into a new crisis after a leaked audio recording exposed how the interim chairman of the national board plotted to oust star batsman Babar Azam as captain in all formats.
The recording, which went viral on social media on Tuesday, features a voice said to belong to Zaka Ashraf, chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, discussing with family members his plans to replace Azam with Shan Masood and Shaheen Shah Afridi as the Test and T20 captains, respectively.
The leak comes amid political turmoil in the country, where several secretly recorded phone conversations between key politicians and judges have rocked the government and the opposition.
The conversation was a private discussion with family members and Ashraf was, apparently, unaware that he was being recorded.
Azam, widely regarded as one of the best batsmen in the world, announced he was stepping down as captain after Pakistan’s dismal performance at the World Cup in India, where they failed to reach the semi-finals.
But the leaked audio suggests that Ashraf had already decided to sack him and had a backup “Plan-B” ready in case Azam refused to quit.
“I asked Babar to stay on as Test captain, but told him that I was thinking of removing him as the white-ball captain,” the voice believed to be Ashraf’s tells, apparently to members of his family. “Babar told me he would consult his family and then convey his decision.”
The voice also accuses Azam of being influenced by player agent Talha Rehmani, the CEO of Saya Corporation, who allegedly controlled eight players of the national team and had a close relationship with former chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq.
The same person adds that he knows that instead of calling his family, Azam would be calling Rehmani.
“Talha advised him to leave everything,” the PCB chief adds in the leak. “I had a Plan-B prepared should such a situation arise and when Babar told me he was stepping down, I called him and told him that you’re the captain now.”
Ashraf does not clarify whether it was Masood or Afridi he called, although he is asked by the voice on the other side, which belongs to a woman, whether wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan would have been a better option.
“I liked Rizwan a lot, but he’s too involved with Babar and Talha,” Ashraf can be heard saying.
The woman’s voice posits that Shaheen Afridi seems under the control of former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who is the father-in-law of the T20 skipper, to which another person can be heard saying, “… this interference is quite common”.
Earlier in the audio, Azam is also accused of having insisted on playing “close friend” spin bowler Shadab Khan, who was ineffective during the World Cup. There is also the mention of pacer Hasan Ali.
Ashraf’s voice responds, saying that this was the reason for deterioration of Pakistan cricket.
He also made clear his resentment of Rehmani. “He [Rehmani] has controlled eight players of the national team. He has signed contracts with the players […] he is such a smart guy that he has built a lot of relationships with the players’ families by going to the players’ houses, and the players can’t move without him,” Ashraf says.
The PCB did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The PCB began an inquiry into Haq’s links with Rehmani’s Saya Corporation, but it was stopped once the chief selector resigned.
In the leak, Ashraf’s voice adds that Haq had begun “speaking against us” after he was ousted as chief selector.
Azam, who has scored over 7,000 runs in international cricket, has not commented on the leak so far.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
