Shoaib Akhtar: “I predicted a year ago that Babar Azam would struggle to retain his place in the team after captaincy. The pressure is now on Babar, he must deliver match-winning performances in white-ball cricket to prove himself”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan fast bowling maestro Shoaib Akhtar has revealed that one year ago, he predicted Babar Azam “would struggle to retain his place in the team after captaincy”.
Akhtar’s prediction ended up coming true as Azam ended up being removed from the Test squad midway through the three-match series against England.
The 30-year-old’s batting has nosedived as of late and it has become a major problem for the men in green as he is one of their frontline batsmen.
Akhtar acknowledged that in order to avoid the same fate in limited overs cricket, Azam has to deliver “match-winning performances” as it is the only way he will “prove himself”.
“I predicted a year ago that Babar Azam would struggle to retain his place in the team after captaincy. The pressure is now on Babar, he must deliver match-winning performances in white-ball cricket to prove himself,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam is now featuring in Pakistan’s white-ball series against Australia and made 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
As for the ongoing T20I series, he scored three runs in both the first and second matches.
Australia hold an unassailable 2-0 lead going into the third T20I, which will be held on November 18 in Hobart.
Once Pakistan’s tour of Australia concludes, they 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
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