Babar Azam should not open the innings for Pakistan, Salman Butt

LAHORE: Former Pakistan cricketer Salman Butt has expressed his concerns about Babar Azam’s batting number ahead of the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.

He criticized the decision to make Babar Azam open the innings for Pakistan in the tri-nation series, saying this is something he has never done.

“No matter, how good you are at one-down position, no matter how many times you have literally opened the innings despite being the number 3 batter for Pakistan, that does not make you an opener”, Butt commented on his YouTube channel.

Butt also criticized the decision-makers in Pakistan cricket, saying that they often fail to understand the differences between ODI and T20 cricket.

“There is one of the reasons why Pakistan cricket is suffering, the persons who are taking decisions, they somehow avoid the understanding that the ODI game is different from T20”, he said.

According to Salman Butt, ODI cricket requires a different set of skills and strategies compared to T20 cricket because in ODIs, openers need to know how to build an inning, play different phases of the game, and adjust their batting style accordingly.

“ODI requires the opener how to build the inning, how to play phases”, Salman butt explained. “Even in very good flow you have to fluctuate yourself according to the phases of the game, otherwise you will fall short of playing even 50 overs”.

He believes that this lack of understanding is one of the reasons why Pakistan struggles in limited-overs cricket, often getting bowled out before completing their allotted overs.

“That’s the reason Pakistan often gets all out in limited overs, whether it is T20 or ODI. We fail to understand the different phases of an innings”, he added.

Notably, before the tri-nation series, Former Pakistani cricketer Basit Ali shared his thoughts on star batter Babar Azam’s potential role in the upcoming Champions Trophy 2025.

He predicted Babar’s statements after the tournament will depend on his performance, saying: “If he performs, he will say he played for Pakistan. If he doesn’t perform, he will say he was forcefully made to open.”