Courtesy: X
Fakhar Zaman, the Pakistan cricketer, took to his official X account to criticise the Pakistan selectors for dropping Babar Azam from the final two Tests of the three-match series against England at home. The 34-year-old cited the example of Indian stalwart Virat Kohli, who wasn’t benched by the Indian selectors despite a tough run of results in Tests a couple of years ago, in regards to Babar Azam getting dropped before stating that it could send a “deeply negative” message for the team.
Since the beginning of 2023, Babar Azam has batted 17 times in Test cricket for Pakistan, without scoring a half century in any of these innings. The best score for the Pakistan batting star has been 41 for the better part of the last two years, which has coincided with poor performances from the Men in Maroon, failing to win a home Test match apart from losing six games on the bounce.
It could send a deeply negative message across the team: Fakhar Zaman on Pakistan dropping Babar Azam
In his post on X, Fakhar Zaman called Babar Azam as arguably the best Pakistan batter has ever been produced before wanting the selectors to not press the panic button. He wrote, “ It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively. If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team.”
“There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them,” concluded Fakhar Zaman, who was critical of the national selection committee. Moreover, apart from Babar Azam, the likes of Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed aren’t a part of the Pakistan cricket team for the two Tests against England later this month.
Below is the Pakistan squad for the second and third Test of the series versus England:
Shan Masood (c), Saud Shakeel (vc), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wk, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha and Zahid Mehmood
