Harsha Bhogle: “They (PCB) haven’t treated Babar Azam well at all”
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Well-known cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle believes the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) “haven’t treated Babar Azam well at all.”
Azam has been through a really tough time lately as he stepped down as Pakistan captain in all three formats following the team’s elimination from the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
With rumours of a potential change in leadership rife during the tournament, Bhogle felt that it put unnecessary pressure on the 29-year-old.
“They (PCB) haven’t treated Babar Azam well at all,” he was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
In the World Cup, Azam scored 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
Pakistan began by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before losing four straight to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a low as England battered them by 93 runs.
Azam 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