Iqbal Qasim: “As a player, he deserves a spot. If you say he doesn’t deserve a spot as a player, that’s just unfair”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Iqbal Qasim believes it is unfair for people to say that Babar Azam doesn’t deserve a spot in the national team.
His remarks come after Azam was dropped midway through the recent three-Test series against England.
The 30-year-old has been struggling to score runs consistently and made 30 and 5 in the first Test in Multan before being removed from the squad.
Even though Pakistan proceeded to win the series 2-1 without the services of Azam for the second and third Tests, Qasim pointed out that people should not forget what the Lahore native has accomplished in his career thus far.
Additionally, he questioned why the standards placed on Azam are much higher than the other players in the Pakistan team.
“Our mindset has become such that whoever is the top performer is made the captain. But when that cricketer faces a bad phase, he is removed like a fly from milk. We’ve become accustomed to seeing Babar Azam score hundreds and fifties, and even his ‘bad’ innings are around 30-35 runs, while other batsmen struggle to even reach that. Why is the criteria for Babar set so high that if he scores 100, he will stay in the team, and he has to score 100 in every match?” he told Cricket Pakistan.
“Every great cricketer, including Zaheer Abbas, has faced tough times. During those times, we need to support them and boost their morale. Why is the standard for Babar Azam so high that only a hundred keeps him in the team? You can’t form a team without your superstars like Majid Khan, Imran Khan, or Javed Miandad.
“My personal opinion is that Babar has served as captain, reached a good position, and has been a top performer, ranked number 1 in the world. He has countless fans in India, England, and Pakistan. He needed support; we should have played him, even if you removed him from captaincy. As a player, he deserves a spot. If you say he doesn’t deserve a spot as a player, that’s just unfair.”
Following the England series, Azam played playing in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia and made 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
As for the three T20Is, he scored 47 runs at an average of 15.66.
Pakistan will now embark on a tour of Zimbabwe, where they will 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