Younis Khan: “He wasn’t dropped for poor form but due to Aaqib Javed’s grudge – and this will hurt Pakistan, not Babar”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan legend Younis Khan believes Babar Azam was dropped from the T20I team not for poor form, but because Director of High-Performance Aaqib Javed held a personal grudge against him.
The 31-year-old was sidelined from Pakistan’s T20I squad for several months before making a comeback in late 2025.
Younis noted that axing the 31-year-old was the wrong move as all it did was hurt the Pakistan team.
“He wasn’t dropped for poor form but due to Aaqib Javed’s grudge – and this will hurt Pakistan, not Babar,” the 48-year-old from Mardan was quoted as saying on Facebook.
Azam is currently involved in the 2026 T20 World Cup, where he has amassed 66 runs in five matches at an average of 22 and a strike-rate of 115.78.
Pakistan made it through to the Super Eights after taking down the Netherlands, United States of America and Namibia in the group stage. Their only loss came against India.
The men in green endured a frustrating start to their Super Eights campaign as their match against New Zealand was washed out.
Next up for them will be a clash against England on February 24 in Pallekele.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq