Umar Akmal on Babar Azam: “I told Babar that look give me a fair chance. You are doing well in the top order and I can be your finisher and we can win matches regularly and it will be good for Pakistan cricket. He didn’t listen to me”

Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani

Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal has revealed that he asked Babar Azam to let him return to the national team and play the role of a finisher, but was ignored.

Akmal felt that he could help the men in green win matches, which would “be good for Pakistan cricket”.

The 34-year-old, who last played international cricket in October 2019, wanted to be given a fair chance to reclaim his spot in the Pakistan team.

Despite approaching Azam, who is his cousin, Akmal was not given the opportunity he sought.

“I told Babar that look give me a fair chance. You are doing well in the top order and I can be your finisher and we can win matches regularly and it will be good for Pakistan cricket. He didn’t listen to me,” he was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where he mustered 62 runs in three games at an average of 20.66.

He then took part in the 2025 Champions Trophy and accumulated 87 runs in two matches, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.

Following this, he was involved in Pakistan’s limited overs tour of New Zealand.

Azam wasn’t picked for the T20I series, which the men in green lost 4-1, but did feature in the three-match ODI series and amassed 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.

Next up for Azam will be the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will captain the Peshawar Zalmi.

Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 10:

• Platinum: Babar Azam (captain), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore
• Diamond: Corbin Bosch, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris
• Gold: Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Nahid Rana
• Silver: Arif Yaqoob, Najibullah Zadran, Max Bryant, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufiyan Muqeem
• Emerging: Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat
• Supplementary: Ahmed Daniyal, Alzarri Joseph

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