"The team's sole focus is on cricket" - Senior Pakistan player denies rumors of spat between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi

A senior Pakistan player has denied the reported rumors of a spat between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi after the team's Asia Cup exit.

Soon after Pakistan lost against Sri Lanka in a do-or-die game of the Asia Cup 2023 Super Fours round, BolNews reported that Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi had a heated argument in the dressing room. Babar was apparently unhappy with the senior players and criticized them. Shaheen interrupted him and asked him to praise the players who performed well instead of playing blame game.

The report claimed that Shaheen's interruption did not go well with Babar, leading to an argument between the two. In the end, Mohammad Rizwan and the coaches calmed the two players down.

Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, an unnamed senior Pakistan player trashed the report, saying:

"The team's sole focus is on cricket, and we are not concerned about the critics. Losing a match gives our critics an opportunity to voice their opinions, but these are merely negative speculations."

The report also claimed that Babar Azam did not speak with anyone after returning from the post-match press conference. However, the senior player refuted the claim, saying that everyone left the meeting together and many players travelled together on the same flight to Pakistan.

"There is no truth to the rumors of a verbal altercation" - Senior player on Babar Azam vs Shaheen Afridi clash

The senior player concluded by saying that the rumors of a clash between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi were not true. He also mentioned that none of the coaches had to separate them.

He said:

"In the team meeting, everyone shared their thoughts, but there is no truth to the rumors of a verbal altercation or the coaching staff needing to intervene."

Pakistan will play their next game in the warm-up round of the ICC World Cup 2023. It will be interesting to see if Babar Azam and co. make any changes to their team.