Mickey Arthur: “I still think Babar Azam is in the top echelon of ODI batting in the world, all batting. He hasn’t put it together for a bit and that happens with players… whether they lose that little edge or they lost that little bit of hunger”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur questioned if batsman Babar Azam has “lost that little bit of hunger”, but stressed that he is still “in the top echelon of ODI batting in the world”.
Azam has struggled to score runs regularly as of late, which has become a major concern for the men in green.
During the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, the 30-year-old amassed 62 runs in three matches at an average of 20.66.
He followed that up with 87 runs in two games in the 2025 Champions Trophy, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
“I still think Babar Azam is in the top echelon of ODI batting in the world, all batting. He hasn’t put it together for a bit and that happens with players… whether they lose that little edge or they lost that little bit of hunger. International cricket and batting in the top order is a game of very fine margins. Whether that’s happened to him, I’m not sure,” Arthur said in a video posted by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on X, formerly known as Twitter.
After the Champions Trophy, Pakistan toured New Zealand for a white-ball series and started off by losing the T20Is 4-1, which Azam wasn’t picked for.
However, he did feature in the three-match ODI series and finished with 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Azam will now captain the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
PSL 10 will take place from April 11 to May 18.
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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