The Pakistan batter Babar Azam is experiencing one of the toughest times in his international cricket career. The right-handed batter has made 352 runs in his last nine Tests, with a disappointing average of 21, and his best score in that stretch is only 21.
Former Pakistan cricketer and PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja expressed his unhappiness about Babar Azam not being picked for the second and third Test matches against England.
The selectors decided to drop Babar, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah after their heavy loss in the recent first Test match. Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah had already been dropped from the Pakistan squad after the first Test against Bangladesh.
Pakistan’s recent losses in three straight home Tests can’t be blamed entirely on individual players. Besides Rizwan, the batting lineup has had problems, including captain Shan Masood. The Pakistan Cricket Board’s frequent changes in leadership have also impacted team performance.
Before Day 1 of the second Test, Ramiz Raja criticized Babar’s exclusion from the playing XI. He said this decision should have been made by Babar himself not the selectors. He called it a “kneejerk reaction” from the new selection committee.
“It should have been Babar’s call whether he wanted time out of the playing XI or not. It was a kneejerk reaction, new selectors in. The general opinion was he needed rest, and he was taken out of the squad completely,” Raja told Sky Sports.
“We need to understand he sells cricket for Pakistan, and there is always this debate in Pakistan about whether it’s going to be another failure for Babar Azam or whether he will make a comeback, which keeps things interesting.”
He also said that right now, he doesn’t see any sellable commodity in this Pakistan team and he believes the sponsors are a little wary as well because Pakistan has been losing, and there are no real superstars playing in this Test match.