Imad Wasim: “You had a player who could bat for 40 overs and was doing great at No. 3, so why would you suddenly make him open?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan left-arm spinner Imad Wasim doesn’t understand why Babar Azam was made an opener when he was batting so well at number three.
Azam opened the batting for Pakistan during their ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
Even though the 30-year-old has played as an opener in T20Is, Imad pointed out that he should have been kept at number three in ODIs since Pakistan “had a player who could bat for 40 overs”.
“You had a player who could bat for 40 overs and was doing great at No. 3, so why would you suddenly make him open?” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand, where he returned to batting at number three and scored 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Following this, he captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and struck 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Despite his solid performance with the bat, Azam wasn’t picked for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which they won 3-0.
The men in green will now travel to Bangladesh to play three T20Is, which will be held in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
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