KARACHI: Babar Azam has expressed his displeasure over the decision to move one position lower in Pakistan’s T20I squad, a move he made during the recent series against New Zealand. Babar excelled as Peshawar Zalmi’s opener in the ninth edition of the PSL, leading the run-scoring chart with 498 runs in nine innings at an impressive average of 62.25.
After Peshawar Zalmi’s two-run win against Karachi Kings, Babar was asked about the significance of his runs as an opener after being demoted one place lower in the Pakistan team. “I wasn’t under any pressure to score as an opener [for Zalmi]. I don’t push anything. It was the Pakistan team’s demand at the time.
I did it for Pakistan. If I was asked individually, I wasn’t happy with the decision to bat one position lower. But I did it for Pakistan,” said Babar. The decision to split the successful opening partnership of Babar and Rizwan during the New Zealand series was made to give Saim Ayub the position of opener in the Pakistan team.
Despite his demotion, Babar scored three consecutive fifties in the first three matches of the series, although Pakistan eventually lost the series 4–1. During the aforementioned series, Mohammad Rizwan also said that the management’s decision to split his opening pair with Babar in T20Is was not fruitful and hurt the side.
“You could say it [the opening pair break] hurt Pakistan. I can say that Babar Bhai has a big heart. We both agreed there was no problem. We both told the management that they can try any combination they want,” Rizwan said after Pakistan lost the fourth T20I against New Zealand.
“The problem is when you break things that were already working well. However, management is looking for what can be best mined from various combinations,” he added.
