Azhar Mahmood: “He hasn’t been dropped. He has been rested. The management also understands that there has been a lot happening in the last few months. Mentally, even if you say you’re strong, it still goes on in the back of the mind”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan assistant coach Azhar Mahmood has urged people to understand that batsman Babar Azam was not dropped midway through the three-Test series against England.
Azam featured in the first Test in Multan and made scores of 30 and 5.
However, the 30-year-old was removed from the squad for the second and third Tests, which prompted everyone to say he had been dropped.
But, Mahmood made it clear Azam was rested given the busy schedule Pakistan have ahead of them.
“He hasn’t been dropped. He has been rested. The management also understands that there has been a lot happening in the last few months. Mentally, even if you say you’re strong, it still goes on in the back of the mind. He was willing to play. But it was the decision for him and Pakistan team to give him a rest so that he can come fresh. Because after this, we’re playing till April next year,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Prior to the England series, Azam was involved in two Tests against Bangladesh and mustered 64 runs at an average of 16.
He then played in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad.
In four games for the Stallions, he amassed 230 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a limited overs tour of Australia, where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4 to 18.
Following this, they will travel to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan