Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja maintained that dropping Babar Azam in the course of the sequence was a “knee-jerk” response from the administration and feels the stoop in his batting kind shouldn’t be due to his approach however is extra to do together with his psychological facet.
“He (Babar Azam) ought to have been requested whether or not he wanted break day from cricket or not,” Raja instructed reporters throughout a choose media interplay forward of Pakistan’s white-ball tour of Australia.
“Clearly, his kind wasn’t nice, however even then, I imply, his physique of labor means that there ought to have been a a lot better approach of easing him out from a Check sequence. So it was in all probability a knee-jerk response, however I’m certain that he’ll come again as a stronger particular person.
“That is in all probability the primary time that he’s been dropped in his profession, and he will likely be desirous to show his level. So let’s see how the comeback is or whether or not he’s impressed, whether or not he has modified his approach, and the way motivated he’s as a result of such issues can spur a person,” he added.
The scrutiny round Babar Azam’s kind has been magnified with every subsequent failure with the bat. The appropriate-handed batter hasn’t scored in 18 innings. For the reason that begin of 2023, Babar Azam’s common has been under 21 in 9 Checks.
“I believe it’s quite a bit to do together with his temperament in Check cricket. When his kind slumps, then it takes an extended time for him to make a comeback in red-ball in comparison with white-ball cricket. So it’s a temperamental situation greater than anything.
“From a technical viewpoint, you see he doesn’t keep nonetheless to the ball pitched on the again of the size facet, so he must be just a bit bit extra side-on. As a result of he’s been, of late, getting out caught behind to a ball that’s shifting away. Additionally, he struggles in opposition to spin. You understand he bats at quantity 4 in Check cricket, however in white-ball cricket, I don’t assume he’s going to have lots of issues in opposition to spin. Once more, as I stated, he must tweak his psychological recreation, not his approach,” he stated.
The lack of kind throughout a turbulent time relating to his management standing has impacted Babar’s profession. Following Pakistan’s group-stage exit from the ODI World Cup in 2023, he was sacked from the captaincy in all codecs. Nonetheless, 4 months later, the T20I and ODI captaincy have been returned to him, with Shaheen Afridi sacked after only one sequence.
Observe Viv Richards’ blueprint
Babar Azam’s second stint was equally poor. Pakistan cricket team was eradicated from the T20 World Cup in 2024 within the first spherical after dropping to the USA and India. Simply six months after Babar Azam was reappointed, he left the captaincy, citing a want to concentrate on his batting.
Ramiz Raja says the star Pakistan batter has potential like legendary Viv Richards, and he should comply with the blueprint of the previous West Indies cricketer.
“I really feel Babar Azam has to realize much more in Check cricket. He performs the white-ball format rather well and has a median of 50-plus in each codecs (T20I and ODI)… There may be a lot potential in Babar Azam,” he stated.
“He has been Pakistan’s greatest batsman within the final 10 years. Followers count on him to be a match-winner for Pakistan and, in all probability he himself desires to be a big-match participant when there’s much more at stake. And that’s why I in contrast him with Richards; I believe that’s an awesome blueprint for Babar Azam to comply with. The larger the competition, the larger the innings Richards used to play. Like Richards, Babar Azam too seems to be to decimate the opposition.”
