Pakistan batsman Babar Azam: “No one has changed batting positions as much as I have. Whenever someone new comes in, it’s Babar who changes his number”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan batsman Babar Azam said no one has changed batting positions as much as he has.
Azam noted that he has constantly moved up and down the order, depending on what the team require from him.
While he has no problem changing where he bats, the 30-year-old wants people to recognise the sacrifices he is making to accommodate other players in the team.
“No one has changed batting positions as much as I have. Whenever someone new comes in, it’s Babar who changes his number. Sometimes I go to number three, sometimes I open. For me, Pakistan comes first. The franchise (Peshawar Zalmi) wanted me to open, so I did. Then I play wherever Pakistan needs me,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam was recently in action in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Peshawar Zalmi and made 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, he was not picked for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, which the men in green won 3-0.
He also wasn’t selected for Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh, which will consist of three T20Is that will be played in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
Azam also didn’t feature in the T20I series against the West Indies, but did play in the three ODIs that followed, where he made 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in Sharjah, which will take place from August 29 to September 7.
After that, the men in green will be involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, which will be played in the UAE from September 9 to 28.
Azam was not included in Pakistan’s squad for the T20I tri-series and the Asia Cup.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem