Rashid Latif, the former wicketkeeper of the Pakistan cricket team, claimed that Babar Azam was trying to get in touch with Zaka Ashraf, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board management committee, through calls and texts, but Ashraf hadn’t responded.
However, Ashraf, in an interview on a local news channel, said that Babar hadn’t reached out to him directly. Ashraf explained that Babar should contact the Director of International Cricket or the Chief Operating Officer instead.
To support his statement, Ashraf shared a WhatsApp message exchange between Babar and PCB’s Chief Operating Officer, Salman Naseer, on live TV. In the conversation, Naseer asked if Babar had called the Chairman, to which Babar responded that he hadn’t made any calls.
It’s unclear whether Babar agreed to have his personal message shared on live TV, which raises ethical concerns about the actions of the PCB chief, as sharing private messages could be viewed as a violation of privacy.
Former Pakistan cricketer Azhar Ali also raised a similar point on the show, questioning whether the PCB chief or the program sought Babar’s consent before airing his personal message live.
The show’s presenter, Waseem Badami, posted a video on his social media platform where he acknowledged the mistake of revealing the WhatsApp conversation involving Babar. Badami explained that there was initial hesitation about disclosing the conversation, but since the PCB chief had allowed them to show it on screen, they decided to broadcast it. Nevertheless, Badami stressed that sharing the conversation was an incorrect decision made by the channel, and he offered a sincere apology for the error.