'Not comparing myself with Babar Azam': Umar Akmal clears air over his post

Former Pakistan cricketer Umar Akmal has cleared the air over his Instagram post regarding Babar Azam.

Akmal took to X (Twitter) to issue his clarification after the post went viral and was termed a mocking one.

I want to clarify that my aim was never to compare myself with Babar Azam. He is currently one of the top batters in the world, and I have great respect for his achievements. My intention was only to highlight that he is not naturally a middle-order batter in T20 cricket, as that… pic.twitter.com/Agn6l8LVeq

— Umar Akmal (@Umar96Akmal) February 27, 2026

“I want to clarify that my aim was never to compare myself with Babar Azam. He is currently one of the top batters in the world, and I have great respect for his achievements. My intention was only to highlight that he is not naturally a middle-order batter in T20 cricket, as that position doesn’t fully suit his batting style. There was no comparison — just a point about role suitability in the format,” Umar Akmal wrote on his X account.

It was just a fan repost and was not deliberately edited in any way, he added.

The timing of the post is significant, with Pakistan’s semi-final hopes hanging in the balance.

Pakistan were beaten by England in the Super Eights, while their match against New Zealand was washed out due to rain. As a result, Pakistan currently sit on one point, with New Zealand on three.

Pakistan’s qualification scenario is now clear. If New Zealand lose to England, Pakistan can still reach the semi-finals by defeating Sri Lanka by a big margin and finishing ahead on net run rate.