Salman Butt: “He’s been a consistent run machine for Pakistan, but like any world-class player, it’s natural for him to face a rough patch now and then”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former captain Salman Butt is upset star batsman Babar Azam is getting criticised even though he has been “a consistent run machine for Pakistan”.
Azam hasn’t been able to score runs regularly in all three formats for the past few months and has been heavily criticised for his rough patch as he is one of the country’s top performers.
Salman noted that it is natural for players like the 30-year-old to go through bad periods of form and urged people to support Azam rather than constantly lambast him.
“He’s been a consistent run machine for Pakistan, but like any world-class player, it’s natural for him to face a rough patch now and then,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently played 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.
He then took part in Pakistan’s white-ball tour of New Zealand, where the men in green lost the T20I series 4-1 and the ODIs 3-0.
Azam was not selected for the T20Is, but was in the playing XI for all three ODIs and ended up making 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Currently, Azam is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has mustered 49 runs in four games at an average of 12.25 and a strike-rate of 96.07.
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
MORE PAKISTAN CRICKET NEWS: What a talent he is, Umar Gul sees so much potential in Pakistan opener