Mohammad Asif: “I have nothing against Babar. He is a good player in other formats, but T20 is not his format”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif believes batsman Babar Azam is not suited for T20Is.
Asif acknowledged that the 31-year-old is “a good player in other formats” but said he should not be part of Pakistan’s T20I team.
Azam’s strike-rate has been a major point of discussion in the shortest format, with critics arguing that he takes too long to score his runs. They believe this places additional pressure on the other batsmen to accelerate the scoring rate when they come to the crease.
“I have nothing against Babar. He is a good player in other formats, but T20 is not his format,” Asif was quoted as saying by Khel Shel.
Azam recently captained Pakistan in their two-Test series against the West Indies, which ended as a 1-1 draw.
He will be back in action soon as the men in green are now scheduled to face England in a three-Test series from August 19 to September 13.
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