Pakistan’s discarded wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has come out in support of current ODI and T20I captain Babar Azam and lashed out at his critics. He said that it’s a tragedy that instead of motivating such a brilliant talent, people were finding faults in the performance of the country's number one batsman.

Azam was not at his best on the recent tour of England, scoring 195 runs in three rain-marred Tests and 77 runs in the two completed T20I matches. While Pakistan lost the three-match series 0-1, they were able to draw the three-match T20I series.

"An even greater tragedy is that people have started to criticize our number one batsman, Babar Azam, saying that he isn't scoring runs at a fast-enough rate or isn't winning enough games. What is becoming of us? If we wish to improve things then instead of looking down on a player like Babar, we should spend our energy motivating him," Akmal said in an interview to Pakpassion.net.

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"But once again, I feel that the team management needs to make sure that all players in the squad are looked after and given confidence instead of preferring to concentrate and spend energies on a select few who are their favorite," he added.

Azam is currently ranked fifth in Tests, third in ODIs, and second in T20Is.

He had come in from sharp criticism from former Pak bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who on his YouTube channel said, "Babar Azam looks like a lost cow to me. He is out there, not knowing what to do. It is important for him to take decisions on his own so that it could help him become a better captain in the coming times.”

"Babar will need to understand that the chances coming his way are not going to happen for the rest of his life, so he needs to make the most out of it," he added.