Just like how Virat Kohli is India’s best batter, Babar Azam is his counterpart for the Pakistan team. (Image: AFP)
A Pakistan batting star as questioned whether dropping Babar Azam is the move to make. He took the example of Virat Kohli and how the Indian management decided to back their best batter instead of sidelining him during his run of poor form.
Minutes before the Pakistan Cricket Board announced that they dropped their star players, Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah ahead of the second Test against England in Multan, the Men in Green’s specialist white-ball batter, Fakhar Zaman shared his take as to why the move might send a negative message across the team, drawing parallels to his Indian counterpart, Virat Kohli.
Azam’s form with the bat has been a massive concern for the Pakistan national team. Once considered to be on track to be the best batter produced within the country, the 29-year-old batter has seen a massive dip in form, thus impacting Pakistan’s form across all formats as well.
Zaman in a post on his official handle on X (formerly known as Twitter) expressed his concern with the move to drop a star like Azam. He explained his view by making a comparison with Kohli who according to Zaman averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively from 2020 to 2023 but Indian management still did not drop the batting icon.
It’s concerning to hear suggestions about dropping Babar Azam. India didn’t bench Virat Kohli during his rough stretch between 2020 and 2023, when he averaged 19.33, 28.21, and 26.50, respectively. If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan…— Fakhar Zaman (@FakharZamanLive) October 13, 2024
The 34-year-old left-handed batter also went on to suggest that dropping the best batter on the side could also send a negative message to the side as well.
“If we are considering sidelining our premier batsman, arguably the best Pakistan has ever produced, it could send a deeply negative message across the team,” his post mentioned.
Zaman called for calmness within the Pakistan cricket fraternity and the focus should be on protecting their best players rather than leaving the star players hung out to dry.
“There is still time to avoid pressing the panic button; we should focus on safeguarding our key players rather than undermining them,” Zaman concluded.
Pakistan cricket is going through arguably their worst period in terms of form recently. The side had a disastrous performance in the 2023 ODI World Cup where they did not qualify for the knockouts, the 2024 T20I World Cup where the side did not make it to the Super Eights and the Test side has one of the worst records at home with Shan Masood yet to pick up his first win as Test captain after six games leading the side.
From the players to the management behind the scenes, everyone has been blamed for the downfall of Pakistan cricket and one would hope that the moves to drop the star players could pay off.
India’s backing proved to pay dividends as Kohli had a fantastic campaign in the 2023 ODI World Cup where he finished with 765 runs to become the leading run-scorer. In the T20 World Cup 2024, Kohli had a disastrous performance throughout the tournament but came in clutch with a crucial 76 runs off 59 balls to help India post a target which they went on to defend.
