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The rumours of rifts between Pakistan pacer Shaheen Afridi and Babar Azam have time and again made headlines amid the whole captaincy saga. Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been going through a rough patch in his career, especially in long-form cricket. It’s been more than two years since Azam has come up with a Test fifty. Needless to say, this form slump has put Babar on the receiving end of criticism from fans and pundits alike.
In the ongoing match between Pakistan and England, Azam could only score 30 runs and 5 runs in the first and second innings. Amid all the criticism, a video of Shaheen Afridi insulting Azam has been doing rounds from the Multan Test. Notably, Fans address Azam with ‘Zimbabar’ or ‘Zimbu’ and now it seems like his teammates have also started to use this nickname to troll him. In the videos doing rounds, Shaheen Afridi could be heard calling Azam “Zimbu” multiple times.
If some other player was playing, he would be out after three games: Basil Ali slams Babar Azam
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali opened up on Babar Azam’s form slump and said that it is time to rest or exclude Azam from the squad. Notably, in the first and second innings of the opening Test against England in Multan, Azam could only score 30 and 5 runs, respectively. It was Babar’s 18th consecutive innings without a half century, which dates back to December 2022.
Basit Ali spoke on his YouTube channel after play on Day 4 and said, as quoted by Times of India, "Babar needs rest. Babar should say that I need to rest. It has been 18 innings since he has performed. If some other player was playing, then he would be out of the squad after three games, like Fawad Alam. This is the bitter truth. Babar should reduce his stance. It is a lot now. The whole world is laughing. Is this how to play?"
