Basit Ali: “Who advised Babar Azam to open the innings? I’m surprised by this decision. What kind of thinking is this? He was performing well at number three”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali wants to know who advised Babar Azam to be an opening batsman, saying it has “destroyed his rhythm”.
Azam recently opened the batting in the ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa since regular opener Saim Ayub was sidelined with a fractured ankle.
In the three matches he played, the 30-year-old amassed 62 runs at an average of 20.66.
He continued to open in the 2025 Champions Trophy and finished with 87 runs in two games, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
Considering that Azam has struggled to score runs consistently for quite some time, Basit wants the Lahore native to go back to batting at number three since it is where he excels.
“Who advised Babar Azam to open the innings? I’m surprised by this decision. What kind of thinking is this? He was performing well at number three, scoring 50-70 runs against South Africa, but they changed his position. Now, he’s scored just 62 runs in three matches in the tri-series. This shows the approach and mindset of the management,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
“They say even Sachin (Tendulkar) opened the innings and scored a century in his first match in Sri Lanka, but you removed Babar from No. 3, where he was excelling, and now you’ve destroyed his rhythm.”
Azam went back to batting at number three in Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand and amassed 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Right now, he is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has returned to opening the batting with Ayub.
In the four matches he has played thus far, Azam has struck 49 runs at an average of 12.25 and a strike-rate of 96.07.
PSL 10 started on April 11 and will conclude 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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