The Pakistan team under the leadership of Babar Azam had a decent outing in the recently passed Asia Cup 2023 but then failed to make it to the finals as they got out of the tournament during the Super 4 stage, after a disappointing defeat to Sri Lanka.
Post making their exit from the Asia Cup, reports emerged that Babar Azam was involved in a war of words with speedster Shaheen Shah Afridi. As per the BOI News, after losing to Sri Lanka, skipper Babar questioned the role of the senior players during the Asia Cup 2023 run. The report added that Shaheen replied to Babar by saying that he should not generalise and not condemn those who performed well.
Babar then responded by saying that he knew who was doing well and who's not, according to the report which also stated that Babar went straight to address the press after the Asia Cup loss, and while going back to the hotel, he did not talk to anybody.
Shaheen on the other hand put an end to all the rumours of a rift between him and Babar as he came up with a post where he shared a picture of himself alongside Babar. He wrote, "Family."
On Tuesday, Babar Azam also made it clear that there is no bad blood in the dressing room after the Asia Cup disappointment.
“There is no ill will in the dressing room. There are discussions after every loss but they get twisted into something else entirely. The entire team is like a family and there is love and respect there", Babar said while taking part in a pre-departure press conference on Tuesday.
The visas of the Pakistan team were finally cleared on Monday and the side will reach Hyderabad via Dubai on Wednesday.