Ravichandran Ashwin: “Intent kaha tha? Ghar me rakh ke aaya tha kya? (Where was the intent? Did he forget it at home?)”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has questioned whether Pakistan batsman Babar Azam forgot his intent at home following his performance in the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Azam was heavily criticised for his knock in the opening game against New Zealand, where he scored 64 runs off 90 balls, which included six boundaries and a six.
His critics slammed him for batting too slow since the men in green were chasing 321 to win.
Similarly, Ashwin wanted the 30-year-old to show more intent and aggression when batting since the situation demanded it.
“Intent kaha tha? Ghar me rakh ke aaya tha kya? (Where was the intent? Did he forget it at home?),” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by NDTV.
Azam ended the Champions Trophy with 87 runs in two games at an average of 43.50.
Pakistan crashed out in the group stage of the tournament after losing to New Zealand and India.
Their final match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain.
Pakistan are now playing a white-ball series against New Zealand and lost the T20Is 4-1.
Azam was not selected for the T20I series, but is featuring in the three ODIs being played right now.
In the 1st ODI, he scored 78 runs, but Pakistan still ended up losing by 73 runs.
The 2nd ODI will take place on April 2 in Hamilton.
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
[TS_Poll id=”149″]