Aaqib Javed: “Babar Azam ran after [the] captaincy and made it an ego issue. His mindset was distracted from batting. Now the coaches need to talk to him, ask him to forget about captaincy and concentrate on scoring runs”
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Pakistan selector Aaqib Javed believes star batsman Babar Azam “ran after [the] captaincy and made it an ego issue”.
Azam has served as Pakistan’s skipper on two separate occasions, but after his latest tenure as limited overs captain came to an end in October 2024, Aaqib has advised the 30-year-old to forget about the leadership role.
Instead, he wants the 30-year-old to “concentrate on scoring runs”, which is something Azam has struggled to do consistently over the last few months.
“Babar Azam ran after [the] captaincy and made it an ego issue. His mindset was distracted from batting. Now the coaches need to talk to him, ask him to forget about captaincy and concentrate on scoring runs,” Aaqib was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh and mustered 64 runs at an average of 16.
He then proceeded to play in the three-Test series against England, but was only picked for the first Test and made scores of 30 and 5.
Despite not being part of the squad for the second and third Tests, the men in green claimed a 2-1 win, which was their first Test series at home since 2021.
Currently, Azam is in action in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia and amassed 80 runs at an average of 80 in the three-match ODI series.
As for the T20I series, he made three runs in the first and second games.
Following the tour of Australia, Pakistan will head to Zimbabwe to play 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