Basit Ali: “How many domestic matches did Babar Azam play after being dropped from the Test team, on [what] basis did he return to the squad?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has blasted the decision to select Babar Azam for the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa.
He noted that Azam was removed from the Test team midway through the three-Test series against England in October 2024.
When that happened, Basit questioned why the 30-year-old wasn’t asked to play domestic cricket in order to regain some form, which has been a major problem for quite some time as he hasn’t been scoring runs regularly.
Considering that Azam didn’t play any first-class cricket, the 54-year-old admitted he doesn’t know why the Lahore-born batsman is back in the Test squad.
“How many domestic matches did Babar Azam play after being dropped from the Test team, on [what] basis did he return to the squad?” he was quoted as saying by Khel Shel on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s white-ball series against Australia and scored 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
He followed that up with 47 runs in three T20Is at an average of 15.66.
After this, Pakistan travelled to Zimbabwe, but Azam was rested for both the ODI and T20I series.
He returned for the ongoing tour of South Africa and mustered 31 runs in two T20Is at an average of 15.50.
His form was a lot better in the three ODIs at he accumulated 148 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 49.33.
The two-Test series between Pakistan and South Africa will begin on December 26 in Centurion.
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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