Basit Ali slams Babar Azam over twin failures in England Test

Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali strongly criticised star batter Babar Azam over his twin failures in the opening PAK v ENG Test.

Speaking at ARY News show “11th Hour”, Ali called the former captain a weak player over refusing to take a rest amid his poor performance.

“Babar is under pressure due to the lack of performance and he is failing in every inning. He is a weak player,” he added.

It is worth mentioning here that the former Pakistan captain returned with scores of 30 and 5 in the Multan Test.

According to Ali, the former Pakistan captain should take a rest and work on improving his game.

“I have advised Babar Azam to take a rest. It is not as if taking rest will destroy his cricket or he will be dropped from the team,” he said.

Basit Ali recalled former captains including Imran Khan and Wasim Akram resting players when they could not perform.

“Nothing is wrong in taking a rest when you cannot perform. Babar keeps thinking that he will score a big inning in the next match, however, he is not able to do that,” the former Pakistan cricket said.

The former cricketer also blasted the team’s fitness levels, saying that Pakistan players were exposed during the first PAK v ENG Test in Multan.

“The batters could not move their feet properly after spending too much time fielding. Look how Abdullah Shafique and Babar Azam got out. It was a sad thing to see,” Ali said.

Earlier today, England defeated Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs in the first Test at Multan Cricket Stadium.

Spinner Jack Leach grabbed four wickets to help England beat Pakistan by an inning and 47 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

The defeat marked a new low for Pakistan as they became the first team in Test cricket history to suffer an innings defeat after scoring over 500 runs in their first innings.