Pakistan cricket is the hotbed of one controversy after another. Just as there is rivalry between the players, there is also a war of words between the former players and the team management. This time the controversy revolved around a statement by Pakistan’s opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq which has been questioned by former wicketkeeper batsman Rashid Latif. The former captain also questioned the authority of Babar Azam in this incident.

Pakistan won the ODI against New Zealand in Karachi on Wednesday. Imam-ul-Haq gave his opinion on the batting order in the press conference after awarding the award. He was asked if Iftikhar and Haris should be given a chance in the XI to sharpen the middle order in the remaining matches against New Zealand.

The legendary Inzamam-ul-Haq’s nephew’s reply was—“No matter what I say honestly. We don’t have time to run the experiment right now. We have power hitters like Agha Salman, Shadab and Nawaz in the middle order. They need courage. If we had many matches in hand, we would have needed to give Haris and Iftikhar a chance. This is my thought, Babar Azam may think otherwise.” Rashid Latif criticized this comment of Imam-ul-Haq. The former wicketkeeper batter said on his YouTube channel, how Imam can give such a statement in the batting order without being the captain.

After his statement, where is Babar Azam’s authority in the team as a captain? Now it’s up to you to decide who the captain of the Pakistan team is and who is not.

Although there is no room to question the batsman Babar Azam, there is often a storm of criticism about the captain Babar Azam. Many former Pakistan batsmen do not want one of the best batsmen of all time to lead the team. However, despite the criticism, many are on his side. Former wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif is one of them. He claims that some former star cricketers of the country cannot accept Babar’s leadership, but rather his authority in the team. Babur’s failure as a captain is not very few. But he also has some remarkable achievements to speak for. One of which was defeating India for the first time on the World Cup stage. Babar has shown what no other Indian captain could do. He has also led the team to the semi-final and final in two consecutive T20 World Cups. In the final of the last Twenty20 World Cup, Pakistan became the runner-up after losing against England. Criticism continues despite such success. After Nazam Shetty became the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the interim selection panel took over and decided to remove Babar from the leadership.

The delegation led by Shahid Afridi, however, ultimately failed to remove Babar. However, Pakistan has not yet moved away from the idea of ​​separate leadership for limited-overs and long-range cricket. Pakistan’s former wicket-keeper batsman Rashid Latif claims that many of the former are afraid of Babar’s power. So they want to remove him from the captaincy. He said, ‘I think the problem is not with Babar’s captaincy but with his power. It seems that Babar has a power struggle with some of Pakistan’s former stars, which they see as discrimination. They have united their associates on the board to remove him (Babur) from the leadership.

Rashid Latif, another former Pakistani cricketer, said that cricket is suffering due to the IPL.

Recently, the broadcast rights of the IPL have been sold for a huge amount. Since then, the tournament has been in the spotlight again. Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif said on a YouTube channel, “IPL is all about business. It has nothing to do with cricket. It’s not going well at all. If you want to spread money, there are many people who take that money. No one is thinking about where the quality of cricket is going. Everyone is thinking about business. ‘

Cricketers do not serve as the national team in many countries, including Bangladesh, for the IPL. The ICC has also given a two-and-a-half-month window for the IPL. Latif further said, “Ask any Indian, how long have they watched the IPL? It’s clear that it’s a business. The development of cricket, whatever the market value says, at the end of the day IPL is nothing but business. ‘I want to see how long it lasts!’

According to him, Pakistan will win the upcoming Asia Cup. Babar Azam will take the title in a great fight with India in the final.

Rashid, however, does not look down on the other teams.

While drawing comparisons between India and Pakistan teams, Rashid Latif said that Pakistan’s 10-wicket win over India in the last ICC T20 World Cup has boosted the morale of the entire team. Hopefully, the Men in Greens will reflect on the same form in the upcoming Asia Cup (beating India).

After this, the former star said, “I am hopeful that Pakistan will win the Asia Cup 2022. Of course, other teams will also compete well. However, the main competition of the Asia Cup will be between India and Pakistan. India is definitely a good team. But there is no example of the way Pakistan is playing cricket at present. Pakistan has the likes of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Babar Azam, and Mohammad Rizwan, who are currently named the ICC’s best players.