Babar Azam should be dropped from Pakistan team, says Pakistan legend

Legendary cricketer Zaheer Abbas, known as Asian Bradman, has slammed Pakistan white-ball captain Babar Azam over his recent form and demanded his removal from the Test squad for the England series.

Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances.

He crashed out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings after a forgettable home series against Bangladesh, where he managed 64 runs in four innings.

He last crossed the 50-run mark in red-ball cricket back in December 2022 against New Zealand with a marathon 161-run knock.

Since then, Babar Azam has played 16 innings with a highest score of 39 against Sri Lanka in July 2023.

Zaheer Abbas, during an appearance on a sports talk show), questioned his place in the team owing to his dismal performances.

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“Babar Azam should be dropped from the team,” Abbas said. “If he’s not scoring runs, because if he’s our main batsman and he’s out of form, he should be out of the team.”

Zaheeer Abbas also dismissed comparisons between Babar and Indian batting icon Virat Kohli, calling the discussion “baseless” given the contrast in their current performances.

“The comparisons are pointless. Virat Kohli scores in every match, the other player (Babar) doesn’t score in any match, so then how can you compare? The person who scores is the bigger player,” Abbas remarked.

Pakistan squad for first Test against England: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Huraira, Mohammad Rizwan (wicket-keeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicket-keeper), and Shaheen Shah Afridi, Zahid Mehmood.