Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has slammed Pakistan for keeping their batting star Babar Azam ‘rested’ for the two remaining Tests of their series against England.
Babar was one of four players axed from the Test squad after Pakistan lost the first Test in Multan. This ended the team’s three-match winning streak since its 1992 World Cup victory. The other players axed are Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Sarfaraz Ahmed.
Raja, the ex-PCB chairman, claimed that it was for Babar himself to decide whether or not he wished to be rested, not the selection committee. He further called the move a “knee-jerk reaction.”
It was for Babar himself to decide whether he wanted time out of the playing XI or he did not.
I think it was a knee-jerk reaction. With new selectors in, the general opinion was that he needed rest, and he was taken out of the squad completely,” Raja said on Sky Sports.
He also insisted that Babar is one of the biggest cricket stars in Pakistan at present, and the latter’s presence in the team is vital as his absence will downgrade interest in the game.
“Now we need to understand that he sells cricket for Pakistan and whether this debate is going on presently in Pakistan will be another failure.
Babar Azam or whether he makes a comeback, and that keeps things interesting,” he said.
“Right now, I don’t see any saleable commodity in this Pakistan team because sponsors are a little wary as well because Pakistan has been on the losing sequence, and no real superstars are playing in this Test match now,” he added.
Babar has been in the worst form since early 2023, particularly in Test matches, where he has yet to score a half-century in his last 18 innings.
