Babar Azam hasn’t been at his best for the last couple of years. His struggles in Test and T20I are more understandable than his ODI issues. Since making his 50-over debut in 2015, he has been among the very best batters. At one point, Babar was averaging 60.11 with 4,809 runs to his name. That is the record of an all-time great.
Babar Azam ‘undroppable’ from ODIs
But something has been lacking since 2023. His average has been decreasing. But that isn’t the bigger problem. When in full flow, Babar struck fast as well. Now that isn’t the case. So, he’s not scoring big or quick. Since Pakistan has been knocked out of the ICC Champions Trophy, many want out-of-form Babar Azam out of the team.
Pakistan’s head coach, Aaqib Javed, has come out and bluntly said that they can’t drop him for the Bangladesh match in the ICC Champions Trophy. The reason remains simple for Aaqib. There isn’t any batter close to Babar’s calibre in their 15-man squad.
“A common person who doesn’t play and is not part of the team management wants reasons and the names of people because of whom this team is losing. If you look at Babar—apart from him, what other options do you have? We always say that if the team loses, change the team. This is the most inexperienced team already,” Aaqib told reporters in Rawalpindi.
Need Babar Azam’s experience
The interim head coach further backed his opinion by stating that Babar remains the most experienced batter Pakistan has. Yes, Mohammad Rizwan has played loads of games, but unlike Babar, he hasn’t often won Pakistan matches. Even at his worst, Babar Azam might be the best Pakistan has.
“When Pakistan and India are playing, it’s not only cricket—it’s more than that. You need a lot of experience. This Indian team was the most experienced—they had almost 1500 games together. And Pakistan is on the bottom, with less than 400 games together. If you look at players, Babar Azam is the only one who has played more than 100 games. Then there’s Mohammad Rizwan (88 ODIs) and then Shaheen Afridi (64 ODIs),” Aaqib added.
