A 2-minute and 15 seconds long audio clip containing an alleged conversation of the Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Zaka Ashraf talking to an unidentified woman about matters related to the national team has been making rounds on social media.
The audio, which contained some important insights as the removal of Babar Azam as a captain and the appointment of Shaheen Afridi as T20I captain, was leaked online.
In the audio, a voice resembling Ashraf was talking to an unidentified woman and an unknown person was also present at the occasion.
Most of the conversation was between the woman and Ashraf, wherein the two had a chat about the influence of friendship and player's agents in the team.
"We have seen how the captain prefers to play his close friends, there was no place for Shadab [in the World Cup]," said the unidentified woman.
“Pakistan cricket is deteriorating because of this,” agreed Ashraf.
Another unknown person in the audio said: “Hasan Ali also played because of the same reason [being Babar’s friend].
To which the woman replied: “No, no. Hasan played because Naseem [Shah] wasn’t there."
Ashraf then went on to talk about an agent named Talha, saying that he has eight players in his control so much that he goes to their homes to build great relationships.
"There is this guy named Talha. He is a player agent. He has controlled eight players of the national team; he has signed a contract 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. Talha Osmani, I think I don't know what his name is,” Ashraf said.
He then added that he offered Babar Test cricket captaincy, but he said he needed to take his family’s advice, in reality, however, he wanted to call Talha.
“I had told Babar Azam that you should keep the Test captaincy; I am thinking of removing you from the white ball. He replied, 'Well, I will discuss this at home, and then I will tell you my decision'. Babar Azam called Talha and consulted him, and Talha advised him to leave everything,” he claimed.
Ashraf then revealed that he already had a plan B prepared should such a situation arrive, and when Babar confirmed he would step down across formats, he called that person and said: “Chal bhai, ab tu captain hai. (Come, now you are the captain)”.
The unidentified woman was confused so she asked who’s the captain wondering if it was Shan Masood, to which Ashraf replied, “No, it is Shaheen Afridi,” after which the woman said that wasn’t Mohammad Rizwan the best option.
“I liked Rizwan a lot but he too was involved with Babar and Talha,” Ashraf argued.
The woman then said: “But Shaheen is under the control of Shahid Afridi, his father-in-law and he interferes a lot." To which the unknown person sitting there said, "This much [interefence] is very common".
- Babar Azam
