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Ex-Pakistan batter Basit Ali blames captaincy rift for team's decline

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has said that a fall-out between Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi over the captaincy is the main reason for Pakistan cricket's decline. His comments come after Pakistan's 2-0 series loss to England, and the PCB has made further changes to the team and coaching staff.

By Tertius News AI Desk 3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles Version 2 Coverage Sep 1, 2026 Published 22m ago

Basit Ali's claim

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali has said that a rift between Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi over the captaincy is the main reason for Pakistan cricket's decline. Speaking on the 'Game Plan' show, Ali said Pakistan's problems go beyond their recent results in England.

"Babar Azam is not a strong captain. I am not speaking about this based on the performance in England. He has made many wrong decisions. The main reason for Pakistan cricket's downfall is the rift between Shaheen and Babar. When there was a falling-out between the two over the captaincy, Pakistan cricket was ruined that day," Ali said.

He added: "Many statements were made, saying Shaheen is a very good bowler and Babar is a very good bowler. The rift, whoever created that, the side effects can be seen now."

Recent losses and captaincy changes

Pakistan's 194-run defeat at Lord's left them 0-2 down in the three-match Test series against England. The team has faced criticism for their performances in the opening two Tests.

Pakistan's leadership has been through repeated changes since the 2023 ODI World Cup. Babar stepped down as captain after the tournament in India, with Shaheen taking over the T20I captaincy (and, according to some reports, the ODI leadership as well). After Pakistan's poor results in New Zealand, Babar returned to the captaincy and Shaheen was removed.

Babar was removed again after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup. Pakistan now has separate captains across formats: Babar leads the Test side, Shaheen the ODI team, and Salman Ali Agha the T20I side.

PCB action and further scrutiny

The Pakistani Cricket Board (PCB) made further changes after the Lord's defeat. Seven players, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha, were sent home, while Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul were removed from their positions. White-ball coach Mike Hesson will take charge for the third and final Test against England in Birmingham.

Babar was appointed Test captain earlier this year, taking over from Shan Masood. Under his captaincy, Pakistan drew the two-match Test series against the West Indies. Babar has not scored a Test century in four years.

Babar's leadership has come under fresh scrutiny following Ali's comments, with questions raised about his captaincy and the impact of the reported rift on Pakistan's performance.

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Hindustan Times

Framing: Headline highlights a claim of a rift between Babar Azam and Shaheen Afridi as a 'bombshell' behind the 'ruining of cricket'.

as of Sep 1, 2026, 3:48 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Basit Ali claimed a rift developed between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam over captaincy
Pakistan lost the Lord's Test by 194 runs
Pakistan lost the opening two Tests of the three-match series
Babar stepped down as skipper after the 2023 ODI World Cup
Shaheen was made captain after Babar stepped down
A poor show in New Zealand led to Babar reclaiming the captaincy
Babar was sidelined after Pakistan failed to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2024
There are three different skippers: Babar in Tests, Shaheen in ODIs, Salman Ali Agha in T20Is
PCB sent seven players home, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha
Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul were not spared
White-ball coach Mike Hesson will take charge of the third Test against England in Birmingham
Babar was appointed Test captain earlier this year, taking over from Shan Masood
Pakistan drew the two-match series against the West Indies under Babar
Babar has gone four years without scoring a Test century

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India Today

Framing: Headline blames rift between Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam for Pakistan's cricket downfall. — Critical and speculative

as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Babar Azam's leadership scrutinized after Basit Ali blamed his rift with Shaheen Shah Afridi for decline in Pakistan cricket.
Pakistan suffered a 194-run defeat to England at Lord's, leaving them 0-2 down in the three-match Test series.
Babar stepped down as Pakistan captain after the 2023 ODI World Cup, with Shaheen taking over the T20I captaincy.
Pakistan's poor results in New Zealand led to Babar reclaiming the role, and Shaheen removed from captaincy.
Basit Ali said: 'The main reason for Pakistan cricket's downfall is the rift between Shaheen and Babar.'
Basit Ali said: 'The rift, whoever created that, the side effects can be seen now.'
Babar was removed from T20I captaincy again after Pakistan failed to reach semi-finals of 2024 T20 World Cup.
Team adopted separate captains across formats: Babar (Tests), Shaheen (ODIs), Salman Ali Agha (T20Is).
Seven players sent home after Lord's defeat, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha.
Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul removed from positions.
White-ball coach Mike Hesson will take charge for third Test against England.
Babar was appointed Test captain earlier this year after replacing Shan Masood, drew series against West Indies.
Babar has gone four years without a Test century; Shaheen left out of red-ball plans.

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The Times of India

Framing: Blaming internal rift for team's downfall — Critical and concerned

as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC

Facts Included:

Former Pakistan batter Basit Ali claimed a fallout between Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah Afridi over captaincy played a major role in the team's decline.
Pakistan surrendered the three-match Test series 2-0 after a 194-run defeat at Lord's.
Basit Ali's comments came on the 'Game Plan' show.
Babar stepped down as captain after the 2023 ODI World Cup; Shaheen was handed ODI leadership.
After poor results in New Zealand, Babar returned to captaincy.
Babar was removed again after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan currently has separate captains: Babar (Test), Shaheen (ODI), and Salman Ali Agha (T20I).
PCB sent seven players home, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha; Test coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling coach Umar Gul were removed.
Mike Hesson will coach Pakistan for the third and final Test against England in Birmingham.
Babar has not scored a Test century in four years.

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What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimFormer Pakistan batter Basit Ali claimed that a rift between Shaheen Shah Afridi and Babar Azam over the captaincy is the main reason for Pakistan cricket's downfall.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimBasit Ali said: 'The rift, whoever created that, the side effects can be seen now.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimPakistan lost by 194 runs to England at Lord's, leaving them 0-2 down in the three-match Test series.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC, The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC
ClaimBabar Azam stepped down as skipper after the 2023 ODI World Cup, with Shaheen Shah Afridi taking over captaincy.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimAfter Pakistan's poor results in New Zealand, Babar returned to captaincy and Shaheen was removed.	ConfidenceMedium	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC, The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC
ClaimBabar Azam was removed from T20I captaincy again after Pakistan failed to reach the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC, The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC
ClaimPakistan currently has three different captains across formats: Babar Azam (Tests), Shaheen Shah Afridi (ODIs), and Salman Ali Agha (T20Is).	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimThe PCB sent seven players home, including Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Ali Agha, after the Lord's defeat.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimTest coach Sarfaraz Ahmed and bowling head Umar Gul were removed from their positions by the PCB.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimWhite-ball coach Mike Hesson will take charge for the third and final Test against England in Birmingham.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC, The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC
ClaimBabar was appointed as Test captain earlier this year after replacing Shan Masood.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimUnder Babar's captaincy, Pakistan drew the two-match Test series against the West Indies.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC
ClaimBabar Azam has not scored a Test century in four years.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusMulti-source (2 outlets · 2 distinct) via The Times of India as of Sep 1, 2026, 6:46 AM UTC, India Today as of Sep 1, 2026, 5:45 AM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

3 distinct · 3 mastheads · 3 articles consulted: Hindustan Times, India Today, The Times of India 13 claims extracted Version 2 Written 2026-09-01