Shoaib Akhtar: “I didn’t like the way Babar Azam was removed from the team. He was insulted, and that’s not the right way. He should have been removed, but not during the series”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan speedster Shoaib Akhtar has slammed the treatment of batsman Babar Azam, saying it is downright insulting.
Akhtar was not at all impressed with the way Azam was dropped midway through the three-Test series against England, saying the decision should have come before or after the series.
Azam only featured in the first Test against England in Multan, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
“I didn’t like the way Babar Azam was removed from the team. He was insulted, and that’s not the right way. He should have been removed, but not during the series,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Despite not having Azam for the second and third Tests, Pakistan went on to beat England 2-1, which earned them their first Test series victory on home soil since 2021.
After the England series, Azam was involved in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia, which consisted of three ODIs and three T20Is.
He scored 80 runs at an average of 80 in the three ODIs, which the men in green won 2-1 to claim their first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.
As for the T20I series, he made 47 runs at an average of 15.66.
Pakistan will now 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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