Former Pakistan cricketer and chief selector Iqbal Qasim has raised questions over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to drop star batter Babar Azam from the national team’s squad midway through the Test series against England in Multan.
Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances recently. He crashed out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings last month after a forgettable home Test series against Bangladesh, where he managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings.
Meanwhile, in the first Test against England, he scored 35 runs in two innings after which he was dropped from the squad for the remainder of the series.
In Babar’s absence, the Shan Masood-led team defeated England by 152 runs to level the three-match series and claim their first Test victory at home since February 2021.
Iqbal Qasim expressed his disappointment over the treatment of Babar during an interview with a local sports website. He stated that the cricket board should have supported the star batter in his bad phase.
“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,” said Qasim.
He emphasized that Babar has been facing excessive expectations, which has been adding to the pressure on him.
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“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?” the former chief selector stated.
Iqbal Qasim also highlighted that losing form is part and parcel of the game, but players should be supported during their bad patch.
“Every great cricketer, including Zaheer Abbas, has faced tough times. During those times, we need to support them and boost their morale,” he added.
“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.
“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.”
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