The ongoing T20 World Cup has seen Pakistan batsman Babar Azam once again struggling form as the former Pakistan captain has only made a total of 66 runs in four matches in the marquee event so far. Azam, who was slated to bat at number six in place of number four spot during Pakistan’s 102-run win over Namibia on Wednesday, had earlier batted at number four in Pakistan’s opening match against Netherlands followed by the match against arch rivals India and USA and has not scored a hundred in the T20I format since 2023. Azam’s last hundred in T20Is had come against New Zealand at Lahore in 2023 and former Pakistan captain and selector Mohammad Yousuf believes that the idea of mindset is being sold in case of Babar Azam’s role in T20Is and when a player doesn’t has the skill, the mindset cannot do anything.
“The churan of mindset is being sold very wrongly. Until you don’t have the skill, the mind can’t do anything. If you don’t have the skill, what will the mind do?. Inzy (Inzamam-ul-Haq) Bhai and Saeed (Anwar) Bhai’s level can’t be matched. They can’t be matched. They were very big players. Zaheer Abbas….These players were of different categories and levels. Babar is nothing in front of them,” Yousuf said while speaking on the How Does It Work Podcast.
Prior to this year, Azam had batted only once at number four and it was in 2017. Prior to the T20 World Cup, Azam batted at number four in the three-match T20I series against Australia at home. Azam had scored 76 runs in three innings in the series against Australia and his tally of 66 runs in the ongoing T20 World Cup has meant that he has now scored 185 runs in his last seven games at the number four spot with an average of 30.83 and at a strike rate of 118.58. Yousuf also shared how Azam’s technique has ‘gone for a toss’ and when he had suggested ‘resting’ Azam due to lack of form, it meant he had to resign from his role of selector in PCB in 2024. “I’ve been saying this for 2-3 years that Babar’s technique has gone for a toss. I’ve been hearing that he is out-of-form, but he is not. A player can only be out-of-form for two to three series and he has not scored runs for the past two-three years. The moment I suggested resting Babar, everyone suddenly turned against me. I had to resign because of this. He was eventually dropped a couple of series later,” Yousuf added.
Post Pakistan’s loss against India in the group stage in the T20 World Cup earlier month, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi too had shared his views about the bad form of players like Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Shadab Khan. “If it were up to me to make a decision, I would drop Shaheen, Babar, and Shadab. I would bench them all. I’d play the new kids, give the youngsters a chance, and in this upcoming match against Namibia, I’d give them the confidence and play them instead. We have been watching these same players for so long. They just keep playing and playing. We always have these expectations that they will perform well against these teams. But if such senior players aren’t delivering for you, then what’s the harm in playing the juniors sitting on the bench? What’s the big difference?,” Shahid Afridi said in a panel show for Samaa TV.
