Zaka Ashraf: “Babar Azam took a stand and refused to drop players despite poor performance for the World Cup”
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Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf has called out limited overs captain Babar Azam, saying he refused to drop poor performing players.
Ashraf noted this was especially true in the lead-up to the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where the men in green were eliminated in the group stage.
Some of the cricketers selected in the squad hadn’t done well in the Asia Cup, but Azam insisted on sticking with them instead of giving an opportunity to other cricketers who were in form.
“Babar Azam took a stand and refused to drop players despite poor performance for the World Cup,” Ashraf was quoted as saying by Khel Shel on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and scored 64 runs at an average of 16.
He is now representing the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which is a domestic 50-over competition being played in Faisalabad.
In four games, the 29-year-old has amassed 230 runs, which includes a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
The Pakistan team will return to action next month when they face England in a three-Test series from October 7 to 28.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Hurraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Shaheen Shah Afridi
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