Basit Ali: “Babar Azam needs rest. Babar should say that I need to rest”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali believes batsman Babar Azam “needs rest” and believes the 30-year-old should say so himself.
Azam has endured a tough period of time as he stepped down as limited overs captain in October 2024.
In addition to this, he has struggled to score runs consistently, which has been a huge concern as he is a key batsman for the men in green in all three formats.
Basit believes there is no shame in a player asking for a break and feels that Azam needs to take some time away in order to work on his game, which will help him rediscover his form.
“Babar Azam needs rest. Babar should say that I need to rest,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s limited overs tour of Australia, where he scored 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
As for the T20I series, he finished with 47 runs in three matches at an average of 15.66.
Pakistan then travelled to Zimbabwe, but Azam was rested for the series.
The men in green are now touring South Africa and will play three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
In the 1st T20I, which Pakistan lost by 11 runs, Azam was dismissed by Kwena Maphaka for a duck.
The 2nd T20I will take place on December 14 in Centurion.
The ODI and Test series will get underway on December 17 and December 26 respectively.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha
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