Former cricketer Salman Butt has urged fans to support Pakistan batters Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam amid challenging times.
The duo has struggled in recent times to lift their team out of trouble. Under Rizwan’s captaincy, the Pakistan team faced an early exit from the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a major international cricket event hosted by the country after 29 years.
Following the Champions Trophy debacle, the Pakistan team suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the New Zealand cricket team, who sealed both the T20I and ODI series comprehensively.
The Men in Green were completely outplayed in all forms of the game. Babar Azam, who had a terrible time during the Champions Trophy, did manage to get some good scores. However, he failed to take his team over the line.
While speaking to a digital platform, Salman Butt stressed the need for performance oriented approach in the national team.
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The former opener remarked that there should not be any personal criticism of players.
“It’s not about Babar and Rizwan. It is about any player in the world. It is (national team) is a performane oriented place. Those players who perform will be appreciated, and those who don’t will face criticism,” he said.
“The criticism should be constructive, and it shouldn’t be that you come on someone and start picking on them,” he added.
The former opener said that Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan are great servants of the Pakistan team, and it’s also necessary for them to upgrade themselves.
“They [Babar, Rizwan] have done great service for Pakistan. It is also important to highlight where they are lacking and it is also important for them to upgrade themselves and this is for every player in the world, ” he concluded.
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