After staying out of favour in the Twenty20 International format for Pakistan’s last five assignments, former skipper Babar Azam was picked for the upcoming three-match series against South Africa only after Fakhar Zaman’s decided to skip it, white-ball head coach Mike Hesson said on Sunday.

Since Hesson took over the role in June, Babar hasn’t featured for Pakistan in T20Is with the national side playing series against Bangladesh, the West Indies and a tri-nation series followed by the Asia Cup during that period.

Hesson had cited the right-hander’s low strike-rate as the reason for his absence. But Babar’s selection for the series, which starts in Rawalpindi on Tuesday raised suggested a change of mind for the coach before the New Zealander clarified it.

“I certainly endorse his selection,” Hesson said of Babar while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of Pakistan’s training session at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. “We’ve sent him (Fakhar) back to first-class cricket after a conversation with him.

“He wanted to focus on improving his technique for one-day cricket, so we gave him a bit of a break from T20s. That’s created an opportunity for another top-order player.”

Hesson confirmed that Babar will take the number three spot instead of the batter’s preferred opening position, where he flourished for Pakistan for a substantial period before eventually falling in form and then out of favour.

The coach, however, has expectations from Babar to make a strong comeback and suggested he saw him in Pakistan’s plans for the T20 World Cup, which is set to be held in February-March next year in India and Sri Lanka.

“It’s a great chance to have Babar back,” said the coach. “He’s likely to bat at number three, a role I’m confident he’ll perform well in.

“It also gives our squad some flexibility ahead of the [T20] World Cup.”

‘Haris needs to work’

Babar’s unexpected return also coincided with the axing of wicket-keeper-batter Mohammad Haris from the Pakistan squad even after he received ample backing from the team management across Hesson’s tenure so far.

The 24-year-old proved his mettle with a century against Bangladesh back in June but gradually lost form amid frequent change of batting positions.

Hesson believed Haris needed to go back to the drawing board to fix his issues.

“Haris has had a number of opportunities recently, and he’d be the first to admit he hasn’t made the most of them,” he said. “But he’s still young and developing, so I wouldn’t say his career is over.

“He needs to work on his decision-making with the bat. Even in domestic T20s, he averages around 17, similar to international cricket, so that’s an area for improvement.”

Haris has been replaced by Usman Khan — who last year gave up on a career in the United Arab Emirates to play for Pakistan before being eventually dropped. He emerged out of nowhere and Hesson said he sees the right-hander, who keeps wickets as well, as a good player of spin.

“We see our wicket-keeper batting more through the middle rather than at the top, especially with spin being such a big factor in Sri Lanka during the World Cup. That’s why Usman has been given this opportunity.”

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https://www.dawn.com/news/1951381/multan-sultans-saga-a-test-case-for-pcb-chairman-mohsin-naqvi

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There is no precedent for it. But, there is never really a precedent for any development in Pakistan cricket.

The happenings of Pakistan cricket outsmart one’s wildest fantasies and the current controversy that the country’s cricketing landscape sees itself embroiled in is one such.

Since it has emerged that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) served a legal notice to Ali Tareen for the breach of the franchise agreement last month, the conflict between the two has played out publicly.

While Tareen, the owner of Multan Sultans, has doubled down his criticism on the social media, the board has dropped subtle hints on the path it plans to venture.

Sunday brought more developments as Tareen accused the PSL management for leaking the legal notice to “their favoured media”.

“For the record, we received the legal notice on 12th Sept,” the post said. “Our legal team sent them a detailed reply.

Since then, we had chosen to stay silent and not make the issue public. Because nothing could be more damaging to the league than this.

“But then, the PSL management decided to leak parts of the notice to their favoured media last week.

Perhaps they mistook our restraint for weakness. And one torn notice later, we are where we are. Lets (sic) see where it all ends up.”

An hour later, the PCB, in an update about the meeting between Mohsin Naqvi, its chairperson, and Ernst&Young, the independent audit firm hired for the valuation of the six franchises and the PSL’s brand value, reiterated that it would extend the franchise renewal offer to only those franchisees who have been in compliance with the franchise agreement.

Sources tell Dawn that Tareen has sought intervention of politicians and fellow franchisees to mediate with the PCB.

Tareen has been directing his criticism towards PCB in the lead-up to this year’s PSL. He, primarily, reiterated complaints of the ordinary fans by highlighting the substandard fan experience in stadia around the country and criticised the board for the lack of innovation in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), which he claimed resulted in the decline of the league.

He blamed the board for being content with “mediocrity” and questioned the credentials and ability of the PCB staffers.

With the PCB’s contracts with the six PSL franchisees, title and other sponsors, and broadcast right holders lapsing this year, Tareen’s frequent criticism of the league worried the PCB about its implications.

The PCB suspected that Tareen desired to sabotage the league to adversely affect the valuation process and bring down the market value of his franchise — which the board has stated in its legal notice to Tareen.

The board officials also lamented that rather than contributing in the PSL governing council meetings during which Multan Sultans owner and representatives remained silent, Tareen resorted to attack the decisions on the social media – again, something that the PCB wrote in its notice.

Tareen took over as the sole owner of Multan Sultans late 2023 after the passing of his uncle, Alamgir Tareen.

He and his uncle had bid USD6.3million — almost the double of the reserve price set by the PCB — for the team in 2019 after the PCB had terminated the franchise agreement with Schon Properties Broker LLC for their failure to meet the financial obligations. (PCB has pegged dollar at PKR170 for the annual franchise fee).

The PCB contemplated sending a legal notice to Tareen during this year’s tournament — which it also mentioned in the notice — but refrained from doing so, fearing it may harm the league’s image.

Tareen responded to the legal notice on 2 October, but the chances of a reconciliation seem bleak after he ripped the PCB’s legal notice on camera.

His act has publicly challenged PCB’s stature as the game’s governing body in the country and pushed its chief into a corner. There are many within and outside the country who are anticipating the response.

Naqvi is embroiled in a conflict with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) over the Asia Cup silverware matter.

The matter will rear its head once again next month when cricket chiefs gather for an International Cricket Council (ICC) conclave.

The BCCI will be keen to observe how Naqvi responds to the pressure publicly exerted by one of the PSL franchise owners back home and the outcome of this saga will provide a template on how far they can stretch Naqvi.

Similarly, it will also lay marker for other franchisees and stakeholders of the game within Pakistan.

It is unprecedented for an owner of a PSL team to launch searing diatribes against the PCB. And, the outcome of this stand-off will go on to lengthen the list of unprecedented developments in Pakistan cricket.

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