Imad Wasim: “Being the number one batter in ODIs, it is Babar’s responsibility to win matches but questions will be raised if he doesn’t do that”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Recently retired Pakistan left-arm spinner Imad Wasim believes “questions will be raised” about star batsman Babar Azam if he doesn’t start winning more matches for the men in green.
Imad pointed out that Azam was the number one batsman in ODI cricket and thus has a responsibility to lead from the front and carry his team to victory.
In the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, the 29-year-old started rediscovering his form with the bat as he amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
However, with Pakistan losing five matches during the tournament, Imad admitted that the Lahore-born cricketer has to do better.
“Being the number one batter in ODIs, it is Babar’s responsibility to win matches but questions will be raised if he doesn’t do that,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they recovered from their four-game losing streak with back-to-back wins over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a sour note as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Azam, who resigned as captain after the World Cup, will now feature in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which will get 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