(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

In his heyday, Rashid Latif reached the upper echelons of international cricket on the back of his sharp glovework behind the stumps. The former Pakistan stumper is also not afraid of delivering equally sharp words if the situation demands him to call a spade a spade.

Now Latif has come out to defend the two beleaguered stars, Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan, while launching a scathing attack on those for 'damaging' Pakistan cricket with 'internal politics' in the PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board).

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After being excluded from the T20 team in December 2024, Babar and Rizwan failed to find their names on the Pakistan squad for the Asia Cup (September 9-28) in the UAE.

Apart from cricketing reasons (Babar and Rizwan have struggled for consistency in recent times), Latif also sees an element of conspiracy against Pakistan's two world-class players.

Ironically, at a time when there is a growing discontent over Indian media and politicians mixing sports with politics, raising serious doubts about the status of the high-octane clash between India and Pakistan at the Asia Cup, it's Pakistan's own internal cricket politics that could ruin the team's chances to earn a silverware in the continental showpiece.

“It seems like there is too much politics. I may have got it wrong, but mostly the players and the management (in Pakistan's Asia Cup squad) are from Islamabad United (Pakistan Super League team). This is what many people feel now in Pakistan,” Latif told the Khaleej Times.

Islamabad United connection?

Mike Hesson, who was appointed Pakistan coach in May this year, has also been in charge of Islamabad United since 2023.

The veteran Kiwi also led United to PSL triumph last year in what was the first season at the franchise for Salman Ali Agha, the batting all-rounder who will captain the Pakistan team at the Asia Cup in the UAE.

Since Agha took over the T20 captaincy in March this year, Pakistan have won only seven of their 14 matches, including an embarrassing 4-1 defeat to New Zealand in a five-match series.

“They have played quite a few matches, but until now we haven't really seen them (the coaching staff) build a proper team,” Latif said before pointing a finger at the lack of balance in the team.

“To build a team, you also need a good spin attack. This team prefers one spinner in the playing eleven. Between Abrar Ahmed and Sufyan Moqim, only one gets to play. This is a mistake.”

The biggest mistake from coach Hesson, according to Latif, was blaming Babar's T20 strike rate (129.22) for his Asia Cup snub.

“Strike rate is not everything in cricket; there is also something called game awareness. A lot of players in this team play big shots, but they get out early,” the former Pakistan captain said.

Internal politics

But more than the cricketing reasons, Babar, who hasn't scored an international hundred since August 2023, has been 'mentally damaged' by board politics.

“Both Babar and Rizwan have not been part of the (T20) team for quite some time now. Their performance level has dropped a little bit, but the internal board politics has also damaged Pakistan cricket a lot. In the past also we have seen some big stars who were put under pressure, but they used to perform. But in terms of Babar and Rizwan, it has affected their performance quite a lot,” Latif said before taking a dig at Pakistan's poor T20 ranking.

”If you look at the ICC T20I team rankings, our team is in eighth position. I think both (Babar and Rizwan) deserve a place in this eighth-ranked team because we don't have any Don Bradmans in our country!”

Can Babar bounce back?

Latif is especially concerned about the decline of Babar, who looked destined to join the all-time batting greats at one stage of his career.

“When he (Babar) accepted the captaincy for the second time for the World Cup (2024), I think that was the biggest mistake of his life. After that, we haven't seen the same Babar Azam as a batsman. Captaincy has damaged a lot of players in the past; now it has damaged Babar Azam,” he said.

Since resigning from captaincy following Pakistan's group-stage exit at the 2024 T20 World Cup, in which they also slumped to a humiliating defeat to the USA, Babar is struggling to rediscover his batting mojo, averaging a modest 28.73 across formats.

“I think he couldn't evolve the way he should have when he had the captaincy; this has played a role in his prolonged bad patch - he gets out early in any format now," Latif said.

“Also, I think playing a lot of T20 cricket damages your technique, and also (he has had to deal with) the controversies. I hope he finds a solution to these problems soon.”

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