Ramiz Raja: “This is probably the first time Babar’s been dropped in his career and he’ll be eager to prove his point”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja expects star batsman Babar Azam to return with a vengeance after being removed midway through the three-Test series against England.
Azam was only picked for the first Test in Multan, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
He was subsequently axed from the team for the second and third Tests, which Pakistan won to claim a 2-1 series victory.
Ramiz believes that this is likely the first time the 30-year-old has been dropped in his career and wants to see him “prove his point” when he returns to the Test side.
“This is probably the first time Babar’s been dropped in his career and he’ll be eager to prove his point. So let’s see how the comeback is or whether he is inspired, whether he has changed his technique and how motivated he is because such things can spur an individual,” he was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following the England series, Azam featured in Pakistan’s limited overs tour of Australia, which consisted of three ODIs and three T20Is.
In the ODI leg, he scored 80 runs at an average of 80 as the men in green triumphed 2-1, which gave them their first ODI series win in Australia since 2002.
Azam then proceeded to make 47 runs in the T20I series at an average of 15.66.
The men in green failed to impress throughout the series as they were whitewashed 3-0.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a white-ball 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
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