Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali has commented on the prospect of star batter Babar Azam playing as an opener alongside Fakhar Zaman during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Babar, who bats number three for Pakistan, has been asked to fulfil the role of opener in the absence of injured Saim Ayub, who was ruled out of the Champions Trophy due to an ankle injury, sustained during the tour of South Africa.
The PCB management wants Babar to take up the role just like Sachin Tendulkar, who started his career as a middle-order batter in 1989, however, he was later promoted to open the innings and spent most of his career at the top of the order.
Basit Ali, in a video on his official YouTube channel, backed the idea to promote Babar, suggesting that the star batter will not be under pressure to perform as an opener.
“Babar’s place in the team will remain unaffected, irrespective of his performance in the Champions Trophy,” he stated.
“I hope Babar performs. If he performs, he will say I played for Pakistan. If he doesn’t perform, he will say I was forcefully made to open.”
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According to the sources, head coach Aqib Javed, batting coach Shahid Aslam and captain Mohammad Rizwan convinced Babar Azam to bat as an opener for Pakistan.
The team management believes that Babar can play the same role that Sachin played for the Indian cricket team after becoming an opener.
It is noteworthy that Babar has opened the batting for Pakistan in just two ODIs which was way back in 2015.
After that, he has been the mainstay for the national team at the number three position. However, he has been a regular opener for Pakistan in T20Is for more than two years.
Pakistan Squad for ICC Champions Trophy 2025
Mohammad Rizwan (wk)(c), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Saud Shakeel, Naseem Shah, Tayyab Tahir, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Kamran Ghulam, Muhammad Hasnain, Usman Khan, Haris Rauf.
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