Sohaib Maqsood: “Babar Azam still remains our most important T20 batter, he needs [a] different opening [partner] or he needs to bat [at] 3”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan big-hitter Sohaib Maqsood said Babar Azam still remains the “most important T20 batter” as he is an elite run-scorer and match-winner.
Azam has been utilised as an opener or at number three as of late and Maqsood feels that the 30-year-old should either stay at the top of the order but get a new opening partner or fully commit to batting at one down.
The Lahore native was surprisingly left out of the T20I squad for Pakistan’s recent five-match series against New Zealand, which the men in green lost 4-1.
However, he did feature in the three-match ODI series, where he amassed 129 runs, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 43.
“Babar Azam still remains our most important T20 batter, he needs [a] different opening [partner] or he needs to bat [at] 3,” Maqsood said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam is now captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and kicked off his campaign with a duck against the Quetta Gladiators.
PSL 10 got underway on April 11 and will finish on 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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