Rashid Latif: “There was a time Babar Azam was going parallel with Javed Miandad, both of them didn’t get out while batting for Pakistan, but now Babar has started getting out. He needs to get focused”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes Babar Azam was on track with legendary batsman Javed Miandad until he started to lose his form.
Azam has struggled to score runs consistently for quite some time and Latif has urged the 30-year-old to “get focused”.
During Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, the Lahore native amassed 62 runs in three matches at an average of 20.66.
He then proceeded to play in the 2025 Champions Trophy and struck 87 runs in two games, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
“There was a time Babar Azam was going parallel with Javed Miandad, both of them didn’t get out while batting for Pakistan, but now Babar has started getting out. He needs to get focused. [The] board did wrong with him by taking and giving captaincy repeatedly, but the boards do this to break player power. It is not easy but he should regain his focus and come back strongly,” Latif was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan were dumped out in the group stage of the Champions Trophy after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain.
The men in green will now tour New Zealand for a white-ball series, which will comprise five T20Is and three ODIs that will be held from March 16 to April 5.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir
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