Babar Azam drew a lot of flak for his failure in the Champions Trophy.
Senior batters Babar Azam and keeper Mohammad Rizwan have been sidelined from the T20I squad, with Salman Ali Agha being named the new captain in the shortest format.
Babar has been under the scanner for quite a while due to his below-par performances across formats. In the ongoing Champions Trophy, he played a turtle-paced knock of 64 (90 balls) against New Zealand in a 321-run chase and followed it with 23 off 26 balls against arch-rivals India.
Subsequently, Babar was harshly criticized by the former cricketers, with Shoaib Akhtar calling him a "fraud."
Amid the scrutiny, Babar's father, Azam Siddique, has launched a scathing attack both on the PCB and the critics.
Taking to social media platform Instagram, Siddique on Wednesday (March 5) shared a lengthy post, backing Babar to reclaim his place in the T20I side.
“Boss is Always Right. Member of ICC's Twenty20 of the year team and even after getting the cap, he will drop. It is okay. He will perform in National T20 and in PSL. Insha Allah, he will come back soon after performing in the team. That's the only respectable. They are very big former players. They are requested to keep their words right. If someone answers back, they may not be able to tolerate. You are the past and the door will never open,” Siddique wrote.
"Some others say that if the father speaks more, then in the Holy Prophet. He is his first and last coach, spokesperson, mentor, and the most well-wisher and father in the world, so those who do not have or are not capable of it, please be patient and it is a request to the cricket lovers who have been shouting day and night for them. Before listening to what they did in their time, look at PCB website once. A hint is enough for the rest of the wise. Pakistan Zindabad," he added.
Addressing the media in Lahore, Pakistan’s interim head coach and national selector Aaqib Javed on Tuesday (March 4) explained that the decision to leave out Babar and Rizwan for the New Zealand tour was taken to try out a new approach and develop a new mindset among the players for modern-day T20 cricket.
"If you look at other teams, most of them have 70 per cent separate T20 squads, and we are also working on that before the Asia Cup and World T20 Cup. We need our players to play fearless cricket,” Aaqib told reporters.