AB de Villiers: “Maybe, Babar Azam wanted to take rest. But if that’s not the case, then it’s crazy to drop Babar. He has incredible class, it was matter of time as class is permanent. It was a big shock for me too”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary South Africa batsman AB de Villiers admitted that it was crazy for Pakistan to drop Babar Azam during the recent three-Test series against England.
Azam featured in the first Test and made scores of 30 and 5 before being removed from the squad for the second and third Tests.
De Villiers noted that the 30-year-old “has incredible class” and despite his struggles with the bat as of late, he has done wonders for Pakistan cricket and should continue being backed, even at his lowest points.
“Maybe, Babar Azam wanted to take rest. But if that’s not the case, then it’s crazy to drop Babar. He has incredible class, it was matter of time as class is permanent. It was a big shock for me too,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam is currently involved in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia, which consists of three ODIs and three T20Is.
In the ODI leg, he made 80 runs at an average of 80 as Pakistan triumphed 2-1, which earned them their first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.
As for the ongoing T20I series, he made three runs in the first and second matches.
Once the tour of Australia finishes, Pakistan will travel 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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