Abid Ali: “It is easy to criticise Babar and Rizwan because they are under fire right now”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Veteran Pakistan opener Abid Ali said it is easy to criticise batsmen Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan as “they are under fire right now”.
Azam and Rizwan have been targeted for their lack of runs lately, while speculation has also been rife about whether they will ever return to the Pakistan T20I team.
The duo have missed Pakistan’s T20I 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 only series they took part in recently was the three-match ODI series against the West Indies, where Azam made 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
Rizwan, who captains Pakistan in ODIs, accumulated 69 runs, which included a top score of 53, at an average of 23.
“It is easy to criticise Babar and Rizwan because they are under fire right now,” Abid told PakPassion.
After the T20I tri-series Pakistan were involved in the 2025 Asia Cup, where they reached the final before losing to India.
Azam and Rizwan are likely to return to action soon as they were included in Pakistan’s team for the upcoming two-Test series against South Africa.
Pakistan will host South Africa for two Tests, three T20Is, and three ODIs from October 12 to November 8.
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
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