Shan Masood has been made scapegoat by PCB: Ramiz Raja

Karachi, Jul 11 (PTI) Former Pakistan skipper Ramiz Raja has criticised the PCB for removing Shan Masood as the Test captain for the upcoming tours of West Indies and England. The PCB has reinstated Babar Azam as the skipper, something that hasn't gone down well with Raja, who is also a former cricket board chairman. Incidentally Babar led the national Test team from 2020 to 2023. “You give him an ordinary Test team and then expect him to produce good results,” Ramiz commented on his YouTube channel. He expressed concerns that Babar, who had replaced Shan as the Test captain for the coming tours of the Caribbean and England, would also face similar challenges. "If I had been in Shan’s place, I would have submitted a written protest with the board that when a captain is consistently given a group of ordinary players consistently then how can you expect positive results?," Raja lashed out at PCB mandarins. “If the standard of the Test squad is not good, how is the captain only responsible for this,” he added. Shan was removed after leading Pakistan in 16 Tests since December 2023 in which the team suffered 12 defeats. Senior selector Aqib Javed has recently blamed the outgoing captain for poor leadership decisions. Ramiz disagreed, insisting a captain is only as good as the group of players he is given. The Pakistan squad leaves on 13 July for the Caribbean where they play two Tests and then fly to England for three more red ball games in August and September. PTI CORR KHS KHS