Azhar Ali: “When it comes to his batting, I say, please stop. He is the only player from Pakistan who has made a name for the country through his batting. Even if he doesn’t perform well in some tournaments, that doesn’t take away from his achievements”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Azhar Ali has urged people to stop criticising Babar Azam’s batting, saying “he is the only player from Pakistan who has made a name for the country through his batting”.
Azam has been Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorer in all three formats for years, but lately, his form has taken a turn for the worse.
Even though the 30-year-old from Lahore has not been performing at the level expected of him, Azhar insisted that it “doesn’t take away from his achievements”.
“When it comes to his batting, I say, please stop. He is the only player from Pakistan who has made a name for the country through his batting. Even if he doesn’t perform well in some tournaments, that doesn’t take away from his achievements,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was recently in action in the 2025 Champions Trophy and amassed 87 runs in two matches, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
After this, Pakistan travelled to New Zealand to play a white-ball series, but Azam was not selected for the five T20Is, which the men in green lost 4-1.
However, he was picked for the three-match ODI series that followed that struck 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.
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
[TS_Poll id=”164″]