Ramiz Raja: “Similarly, Babar Azam needs to be seated and encouraged because when captaincy is taken away from you, you tend to go low [on motivation]”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja believes Babar Azam needs to be encouraged right now as his motivation may be low.
Azam stepped down as captain in all three formats after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, bringing his four-year tenure to an end.
The 29-year-old has also struggled to score runs consistently as of late, which has put even more pressure on him as he is supposed to be Pakistan’s go-to run-scorer.
In the recent three-match Test series against Australia, the Lahore native only managed to muster 126 runs at an average of 21.
“Similarly, Babar Azam needs to be seated and encouraged because when captaincy is taken away from you, you tend to go low [on motivation],” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is now playing in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand and has scored 200 runs in four matches, which includes three fifties, at an average of 50.
Pakistan are 4-0 down heading into the fifth T20I, which takes place on January 21 in Christchurch.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Shaheen Shah Afridi (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abbas Afridi, Azam Khan (wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Usama Mir and Zaman Khan