Former chief selector of Pakistan, Iqbal Qasim, has lambasted the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) for dropping Babar Azam. Going through a rough patch since the start of 2023, the former skipper was rested for the last two Tests of the Pakistan vs England series. Babar wasn’t the only one to be rested as the PCB decided that Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi, three of their biggest stars and past performers, needed some time away from the game.
PCB’s peculiar choice & Babar Azam’s unfair treatment
Qasim isn’t pleased with PCB’s approach. He criticised the board for making a player captain on performance rather than leadership skills or game-reading ability, and when that player hits a rough pack, they are chucked away. Babar’s record for the last couple of years isn’t great, but who’s doing well, asked Qasim. Why are different rules being applied to each player, he questioned.
“Our mindset has become such that whoever is the top performer is made the captain. But when that cricketer faces a bad phase, he is removed like a fly from milk. We’ve become accustomed to seeing Babar Azam score hundreds and fifties, and even his ‘bad’ innings are around 30-35 runs, while other batsmen struggle to even reach that. Why is the criteria for Babar set so high that if he scores 100, he will stay in the team, and he has to score 100 in every match?” Qasim told Cricket Pakistan.
“Every great cricketer, including Zaheer Abbas, has faced tough times. During those times, we need to support them and boost their morale. Why is the standard for Babar Azam so high that only a hundred keeps him in the team? You can’t form a team without your superstars like Majid Khan, Imran Khan, or Javed Miandad,” he added.
“My personal opinion is that Babar has served as captain, reached a good position, and has been a top performer, ranked number 1 in the world. He has countless fans in India, England, and Pakistan. He needed support; we should have played him, even if you removed him from captaincy. As a player, he deserves a spot. If you say he doesn’t deserve a spot as a player, that’s just unfair,” Iqbal Qasim concluded.
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