LAHORE: Pakistan’s newly-appointed white-ball head coach Aqib Javed on Wednesday, broke silence on star batter Babar Azam’s place in the national men’s T20I team.
Babar, who is going through a rough patch across formats, had a forgetful outing in the recently-concluded three-match T20I series against Australia, where he only managed 47 runs at a dismal average of 15.66 and strike-rate of 142.42.
Commenting on Babar’s woes in the aforementioned series, former cricketer Basit Ali had claimed that the third T20I against Australia was the batter’s last in the format, since Aqib – one of the most vocal critiques of star batter – had taken the reins of the white-ball side.
“As long as Aqib Javed is the head coach, this may be Babar Azam’s last T20 match,” Basit had said during a local TV program.
“I am simply stating what is evident. You have a premium batsman averaging just 14 runs across three matches. What kind of batsman gets dismissed before the eighth over?” he questioned.
Meanwhile, Aqib, while addressing the media here on Wednesday, was asked to share his verdict on Basit’s claim and also whether Babar would be considered for T20Is.
The head coach, in response, debunked Basit’s claim and highlighted the star batter’s contributions to the team over the years.
“Senior players like Babar and Rizwan have a value. They performed over the years for Pakistan. Every person has its own opinion but our focus is not to target any individual,” said Aqib.
“Everyone saw Babar playing in the last three ODIs. I mean, look, when you become a coach or a selector, then it’s not about individual [preference]. Your goal is to improve Pakistan cricket.
“Whatever efforts we put in did not favour any individual but Pakistan cricket as a whole. If you won the series against England it was won by Pakistan cricket”
“So, our focus remains solely to try and improve the image and results of Pakistan cricket.”
- Babar Azam
- Basit Ali
