Pakistani skipper Babar Azam has reportedly faced the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) reaction following his and his brother Safeer Azam’s viral video at the High-Performance Centre in Lahore which is a violation of the guidelines.
The PCB has reportedly decided to remind Babar Azam of the policy guidelines after his video went viral, showing him assisting his brother, Safeez Azam, in the net practice session at the HPC.
The video drew criticism from some ex-cricketers including Tanvir Ahmed following the violation of the policy guidelines for the players.
The video was posted by Safeer Azam on Twitter while practising in the nets of the HPC under the supervision of Babar Azam and he was seen batting against Pakistani pacer Shahnawaz Dahani.
In the video, Safeer was seen batting against Pakistan pacer Shahnawaz Dahani despite Babar’s younger brother being yet to get place in the national team.
— safeer azam (@safeerazam10) May 14, 2022
The policy guidelines allowed only Pakistan players, first-class players or junior cricketers can use the facilities and staff at the HPC with permission of the authorities, Hindustan Times reported.
According to CricTracker, a PCB source mentioned that Babar Azam had come to the centre before the conditioning camp with his brother and allowed him to train in the nets which was brought to the attention of the board. The source added that the matter was handled in the way it should be and Azam was reminded about the severity of the situation as well.
“Babar came to the centre three-four days back with his brother and this was before the conditioning camp had begun. And his brother later held nets which was brought to the notice of the board,” a reliable source in the PCB said according to Hindustan Times. “He is our national team captain and the matter was handled in a manner where he was politely reminded about the situation and he agreed,” the source added.
Pakistan will next play a three-match ODI series against West Indies starting from June 8 and will go on until June 12. It will be followed by an away tour to Sri Lanka for two Tests in the month of July.