Umar Akmal: “My personal request to Babar Azam is that he should forget everything, the criticism on social media, and just focus on his cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal has advised batsman Babar Azam to ignore all the criticism and simply “focus on his cricket”.
Azam had been in rough form for quote some time, during which he was unable to score runs consistently for many months and was even dropped from the T20I team.
With so much criticism being directed at the 31-year-old whenever he fails to perform, Akmal urged him to keep working hard and not to pay attention to all the background noise.
“My personal request to Babar Azam is that he should forget everything, the criticism on social media, and just focus on his cricket,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
Recently, Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi to the title in the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
He played an instrumental role in his side’s successful campaign as he was the highest run-scorer with 588 runs in 11 matches, which included two centuries and three fifties, at an average of 73.50 and a strike-rate of 145.90.
Azam was back in Pakistan colours after PSL 11 and began by scoring 115 runs in one Test against Bangladesh, which included a top score of 68, at an average of 57.50.
He then proceeded to make 125 runs in three ODIs against Australia, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 41.66.
Having been reappointed as Pakistan’s Test captain, Azam will now lead the men in green in their two-Test series against the West Indies, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from July 25 to August 6.
Pakistan will then tour England for three Tests from August 19 to September 13.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies Test Series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah
Pakistan Squad for England Test series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness), Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah