Aqib Javed opens up on Babar Azam’s place in Pakistan T20I side

Pakistan’s white-ball coach Aqib Javed on Wednesday opened up on star batter Babar Azam’s place in the national T20I team.

Amid the former Pakistan captain’s dismal run in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia, former cricketer Basit Ali said that Babar Azam would be sidelined from the squad as Aqib Javed took charge of the white-ball format.

“As long as Aqib Javed is the head coach, this may be Babar Azam’s last T20 match,” Basit had said a few days earlier.

It is worth mentioning here that the right-handed batter could only score 47 runs at an average of 15.66 in the three-game PAK v AUS T20I series.

Now, the Pakistan white-ball coach has responded to reported plans of sidelining Babar Azam from the shorter format.

“Everyone saw Babar playing in the last three ODIs. I mean, look, when you become a coach or a selector, then it is not about an individual. Your goal is to improve Pakistan cricket,” he said when asked about his plan regarding the star batter.

“Senior players like Babar and Rizwan have a value. They performed over the years for Pakistan. Every person has its own opinion but our focus is not to target any individual,” said Aqib Javed.

The former pacer asserted that their efforts were aimed at improving Pakistan cricket as a whole instead of faviouring a single person.

“If you won the series against England it was won by Pakistan cricket. So, our focus remains solely to try and improve the image and results of Pakistan cricket,” he said.

It is worth noting here that Pakistan have rested star players including Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from the T20I and ODI squads for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.

While white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan will lead the ODI side in the three-game series, he will be rested from the T20I series.