Umar Akmal: “If he plays naturally, the runs will come – and with them, the confidence and his place in the T20I squad”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Senior Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal doesn’t think Babar Azam is done in T20Is as he believes the star batsman can regain his spot in the team.
Azam was not selected for Pakistan’s last two T20I assignments – a five-match series against New Zealand and a three-match series against Bangladesh.
The 30-year-old used to be one of Pakistan’s most reliable run-scorers in the shortest format, but was constantly criticised for wasting too many deliveries.
However, Akmal has recommended that Azam play his natural game as it is the only way he will rediscover his form and start piling on the runs again.
“He needs to play his natural game. That’s the only way he’ll find his rhythm again. In his prime, he would take his time and then accelerate. That’s what he needs to get back to. If he plays naturally, the runs will come – and with them, the confidence and his place in the T20I squad,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
Recently, Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and amassed 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Even though the Lahore native was left out of the squad, Pakistan still won their T20I series against Bangladesh 3-0.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub