Pakistan selection and fitness scandal brewing with Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman under scanner after T20 World Cup debacle

Pakistan had failed to reach the semi-finals of an ICC event for the fourth consecutive time recently, bowing out in the Super 8s of the T20 World Cup after finishing third in Group 2 behind England and New Zealand.

And among the reasons behind the underwhelming campaign was star batter Babar Azam's poor form as well as the decision to have Fakhar Zaman benched for a majority of the tournament, one that had backfired badly for the Men in Green.

Babar allowed to play despite injury? 

It turns out, however, that both Babar and Fakhar may not have been a hundred per cent fit during the mega event, in which Pakistan played all of its matches in Sri Lanka. Not only does the medical panel of the Pakistan Cricket Board suspect that the two senior players were unfit at the time of squad selection for the T20 World Cup, the same concerns had been raised by senior selector Aaqib Javed at a press conference last week, adding that the Mohsin Naqvi-led board would be investigating the matter.

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According to Press Trust of India, a PCB source claimed that Dr Javed Mughal, a UK-based physiotherapist who had joined the board as director of sports exercise and medicine in January, had made a similar observation on the two seniors after the T20 World Cup.

Their fitness had come under scrutiny after Babar refused to participate in the National T20 Championship after the T20 World Cup citing hamstring irritation, with Fakhar having similar issues.

"When Babar was examined his injury turned out to be more serious than initially diagnosed while Fakhar also has been struggling with the same problem for months now," the source was quoted by the news agency as saying.

The selectors, additionally, had picked Babar and Fakhar in the T20 World Cup squad after getting clearance from Pakistan team physiotherapist Cliffe Deacon, the source added. Deacon is alleged to have allowed players to feature in tournaments despite nursing injuries due to his close relationship with them.

Both Babar and Fakhar was not part of Pakistan's ODI tour of Bangladesh, in which the Shaheen Shah Afridi-led visitors lost the series 1-2 following a narrow 11-run loss in the series decider on Sunday. Babar, however, is believed to have been dropped from the side after his horrendous run in the T20 World Cup, where he had scored just 91 runs in six outings at a strike rate of 112.34.