Former cricketer Basit Ali supported Babar Azam’s return to the Pakistan team after he was removed from the squad for the second and third home Tests against England. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) changed the selection committee shortly after Pakistan’s big loss in the first Test, where they lost by innings and 47 runs. Babar, along with former captain Sarfraz Ahmed and fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, were not included in the team.
Many people were surprised by Babar’s removal, and former cricketers and fans had different thoughts about the decision.
However, some experts and analysts thought the decision might be influenced by Babar’s recent difficulty in scoring a half-century in his last 18 Test innings.
When Kamran Ghulam, Babar’s replacement, scored a century on his Test debut, the 30-year-old’s comeback to the team became a hot topic of discussion.
Despite this, Basit supported the former captain’s return to the team and believes that Babar’s reappearance is likely after the two Tests are finished.
“He still has a spot on the team. He’ll come back after two Test matches,” Basit mentioned on his YouTube channel.
Besides Babar being removed from the squad, choosing his replacement as the white-ball captain is another issue the PCB needs to address.
Babar’s removal happened just before Pakistan’s three Tests against England, which started in Multan. Based on rumors and different reports, a few names are being considered for the open position.
However, Basit thinks there are only two suitable candidates, “Mohammad Rizwan or Salman Agha will be the next white-ball captain.”
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that Babar’s choice to stop being captain showed his wish “to concentrate more on being a better player.”
When Babar first became Pakistan’s captain in 2019, he led the team to the T20 World Cup semi-finals in 2021 and the final in 2022.
But after some good results, Pakistan’s performance started to drop in all types of matches. Last year, Pakistan was eliminated from the Asia Cup during the Super Four stage. The decline continued when Pakistan was knocked out in the group stage of the 2023 ODI World Cup in India.
Babar decided to stop being captain, and Shaheen Shah Afridi took his place. Babar’s second time as captain started after the PCB chose to make him captain again, just a few months before the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan couldn’t move past Group A because they lost to the USA and their big rival, India. After a series of bad results during his second time as captain, Babar finally decided to stop being the leader again.
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