Usman Qadir: “Our ex-cricketers couldn’t digest how Babar Azam became a bigger superstar than them”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan spinner Usman Qadir has claimed many of the former cricketers in the country are jealous that batsman Babar Azam “became a bigger superstar than them”.
Azam, who has been criticised a lot as of late due to his poor form, isn’t part of the T20I team right now, which caused him to miss the three-match series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, the T20I series against the West Indies, and the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan.
The 30-year-old was also ignored for the 2025 Asia Cup, where the men in green made it to the final before losing to India by five wickets.
In fact, the only series Azam featured in was the three ODIs between Pakistan and the West Indies, where he made 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
“Our ex-cricketers couldn’t digest how Babar Azam became a bigger superstar than them,” Qadir was quoted as saying by Khel Shel on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan will now host South Africa for two Tests, three T20Is, and three ODIs, which will take place from October 12 to November 8.
Azam is set to play in the Test series after being included in Pakistan’s squad.
Pakistan squad for South Africa Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi