Basit Ali: “That is such a big insult to him. Babar is also a coward. He should have done it like Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad [and] refused to play”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali believes Shoaib Malik’s decision to appoint Mohammad Haris as captain instead of Babar Azam for the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup was truly insulting.
Azam has served as Pakistan’s captain on two separate occasions, with his most recent stint having ended just recently when he stepped down from the leadership role in white-ball cricket.
Considering the amount of captaincy experience the 29-year-old possesses, Basit was baffled that Malik, who was the Stallions’ mentor during the Champions One-Day Cup, opted to let Haris lead instead of Azam.
“The only regret I have for Babar Azam is that everyone became captain but Shoaib Malik did not make him the captain and went for Haris instead. From Babar Azam’s pocket, you can pick out 10s of Haris’,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“That is such a big insult to him. Babar is also a coward. He should have done it like Umar Akmal or Ahmed Shehzad [and] refused to play.”
In the Champions One-Day Cup, Azam scored 230 runs in four matches, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
Prior to that, he was involved in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and mustered 64 runs at an average of 16.
Azam’s next assignment will be a three-Test series against England, which will take place from October 7 to 28 in Multan and Rawalpindi.
Pakistan Squad for 1st Test against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Salman Ali Agha, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed