Babar Azam has come under the scanner for his turtle-paced knock in Pakistan’s Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand at the National Stadium, Karachi on Wednesday (February 19).
Opening the innings, Babar scored 64 off 90 balls with six boundaries and one maximum in the daunting chase of 321. The Men in Green lost the match by 60 runs, much to the disappointment of their fans and former cricketers.
After the game, Pakistan pace legend Wasim Akram made a scathing attack on Babar, saying that such sort of knock is not acceptable in this day and age.
“I don’t want 60 off 90 balls from my main player,” Akram said on Sports Central’s show Dressing Room.
“I’d rather have him getting 35 off 30 balls and get out instead of getting 64 of 90 balls. It’s not on in this day and age,” he added.
Akram lauded the approach of Salman Ali Agha, who scored a quickfire 42 off 28 balls while batting at No. 5. “Babar was the set batter but it was Salman who was taking the risk,” he remarked.
Another Pakistan great Waqar Younis lambasted Babar Azam for his lack of intent while also adding that such innings will cost more games than they will win.
“When he plays well, there’s no better sight, simple as that. But if you are going to take 90 balls to make 60 then you are going to lose more games,” Waqar said on the same show. “That is what happened. Even when he was opening in T20Is, we were screaming about it that he and Rizwan are making fifties each but we were not reaching the winning score.”
Babar had the best strike rate among the top four batters with 71.11 as Shakeel and Rizwan scored at a rate of less than 50.
Waqar didn’t mince his words as he said the way Pakistan’s top-order batted against New Zealand was a crime. “Your first initial thought in white ball cricket is to look for boundaries, six or four, as Fakhar Zaman does. The intent should be that I will go after the bowler and if it’s a good ball, I will nudge it for a single or two. That intent was missing,” he stated.
“Saud Shakeel played 19 balls and made 6 runs. 60 off 90 (from Babar) we have already seen. Rizwan made 3 from 14 balls. If you are chasing 250 then I will say take your time but if you are chasing 320 then it’s a crime. And if you are committing a crime from the top then there’s nothing for lower-order batters to do.”
Pakistan’s next match in the Champions Trophy 2025 is against arch-rivals India on February 23 in Dubai and another defeat could see them getting eliminated from the showpiece tournament.
