Salman Butt: “Let’s first talk about what Babar Azam has at hand. He is not a born leader. But the issue is, what have you contributed to make it easier for him?”
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Former Pakistan batsman Salman Butt believes Babar Azam “is not a born leader”, but slammed the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for not helping make his job as limited overs captain easier.
Azam is no longer captain, but was heavily criticised throughout his tenure for many of the decisions he made.
While Salman admitted that the 30-year-old has to be held accountable, he pointed out the PCB is also to blame as they did nothing to help improve Azam’s captaincy skills.
“Let’s first talk about what Babar Azam has at hand. He is not a born leader. But the issue is, what have you contributed to make it easier for him?” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently featured in the 2025 Champions Trophy, where he amassed 87 runs in two games, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
Pakistan are now taking on New Zealand in a T20I series, but Azam is not part of the squad.
The men in green are 3-1 down going into the 5th T20I on March 26 in Wellington.
Once the T20I series finishes, Pakistan and New Zealand will play three ODIs, with the first match starting on March 29 in Napier.
Azam has been included in Pakistan’s team for the upcoming ODIs.
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