ICC T20 World Cup: PCB breaks silence on Babar Azam's ‘dissent’ over team selection

• PCB CEO Wasim Khan says media reports about Babar Azam being unhappy with squad selection are "factually incorrect". 
• "Babar Azam is fully behind the direction that is being taken," says Khan. 
• "It is important that collectively we get firmly behind the squad," says the CEO. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has reacted to reports of skipper Babar Azam being unhappy with the team selected for the ICC T20 World Cup and the upcoming series against New Zealand and England, terming them "factually incorrect". 

"It has come to our notice that factually incorrect reports are circulating about the Pakistan national squad environment," PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in a statement Wednesday.

The PCB CEO said that the team for the upcoming international series against New Zealand, England and the T20 World Cup assignment has been announced.

"Babar Azam is fully behind the direction that is being taken," reads the statement.

Wasim Khan also spoke about Ramiz Raja's meeting with some of the players, describing it as "a healthy and positive" one. He said that during the meeting, a consensus was formed on the brand of cricket that needs to be played in the upcoming series and beyond.

The PCB CEO urged people to back the cricket team ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup next month.

"It is important that collectively we get firmly behind the squad so that they have the stability, backing and focus they need prior to going into the ICC T20 World Cup next month," reads the statement. 

'Unhappy Babar Azam approaches Ramiz Raja'

A day earlier, Geo News had reported that skipper Babar Azam was unhappy over the T20 team selection for the upcoming international assignments. 

According to sources, Babar Azam was not taken into confidence on the selection of the team for the mega event.

It was revealed that Babar Azam was unhappy with Azam Khan and Sohaib Maqsood's inclusion in Pakistan's T20 squad.

The chief selector had added Khan and Maqsood to the team after holding consultations with Ramiz Raja — currently in line to be the next chairperson of the PCB.

However, Babar Azam was in favour of including Faheem Ashraf and Fakhar Zaman in the team, the sources added.

Sources had further revealed that Babar Azam got in touch with Raja to discuss the team selection, however, he was not heard.

A message was sent to Babar Azam that he should focus more on playing rather than focusing on which players are included or not, sources told Geo News.