Mickey Arthur: “It’s really unfair to start a witch-hunt, certainly on Babar Azam”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently removed Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur vented his anger at the fact that former captain Babar Azam became the victim of a “witch-hunt.”
He feels the 29-year-old was unfairly blamed for the team’s dismal performance at the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Considering Azam scored 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40, Arthur pointed out that he was not the worst of the lot.
“It’s really unfair to start a witch-hunt, certainly on Babar Azam,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before succumbing to defeats at the hands of India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they stopped their four-game losing streak with successive wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they could not secure their spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a sour note as England battered them by 93 runs.
Azam, who stepped down as captain in all three formats after the World Cup, will now represent Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, which gets underway on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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