Former Pakistan batsman and selector Mohammad Wasim has described Babar Azam as "stubborn" and "resistant to squad changes". He also discussed the difficulties he encountered while working with Babar Azam throughout his selector term.
From 2019 to 2023, Babar Azam captained the Pakistan team across all formats. He stepped down as captain in all three formats following Pakistan's failure to get to the semi-finals of the 2023 World Cup.
However, just a few months later, he agreed to become captain of the Pakistan white-ball team after Mohsin Naqvi took over as PCB chief.
Wasim, who served as the head selector for the Pakistan men's cricket team from December 2020 to December 2022, reported that Babar was "very stubborn" and felt annoyed whenever the selection committee made changes to the roster, no matter how beneficial to the team.
“It was painful to make him understand the advantages of changes. He was very stubborn, and I overstepped my limitations to get him on board with certain calls. He was not ready to accept changes,” Wasim was quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
The former cricketer further stated that he attempted to remove some cricketers from the Pakistani cricket squad who were disrupting the dressing room atmosphere, but they were later reinstated by the team administration.
"I will not take names, but four coaches said that a group of players is cancer to the team. If they are part of the squad, Pakistan can’t win. I tried to remove them from the team, but the team management recalled them,” he added.
Wasim also revealed the reason behind dropping star all-rounder Imad Wasim from the team and said he was axed to work on his fitness.
“Imad has a knee injury, but he has been hiding it for years. We always speak about Azam Khan’s fitness levels, but Imad is also suffering from the same problem. He was dropped from the side for that same reason, and I also dropped him during my tenure so that he could work on his fitness,” he said.
Imad Wasim came out of retirement and was chosen in Pakistan's T20 World Cup 2024 squad, after outstanding performance in PSL 2024.
