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Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has raised questions over the decision to drop star batter Babar Azam from the squad for the remaining two Test matches against England.
The newly appointed national men’s selection committee on Sunday dropped Babar, along with Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sarfaraz Ahmed from the squad for the ongoing second and upcoming third Test against England.
Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances recently, the highlight of which was his dismal run in the two-match home Test series against Bangladesh last month.
He managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings during the Bangladesh series, consequently, crashing out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.
During the first Test against England, the right-hander managed scores of 30 and 5 before losing his place for the remaining matches of the series.
However, Ramiz Raja criticised the decision of selectors, calling it a ‘knee-jerk reaction’.
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While talking to former England cricketers Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on Sky Sports, Raja expressed his belief that Babar should have been asked if he wanted to rest.
“It should have been Babar’s call whether he wanted time out of the playing XI or not. It was a kneejerk reaction, new selectors in. The general opinion was he needed rest and he was taken out of the squad completely,” Raja stated.
It’s worth noting that Babar 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, he has played 16 innings with a highest score of 39 against Sri Lanka in July 2023.
Despite Babar’s bad form, Ramiz Raja believes that he is still the biggest brand in Pakistan cricket and there are no other superstars in the country.
“We need to understand he sells cricket for Pakistan and there is always this debate happening in Pakistan on whether it’s going to be another failure for Babar Azam or whether he is going to make a comeback and that keeps things interesting,” he added.
“Right now, I don’t see any sellable commodity in this Pakistan team. The sponsors are a little wary as well because Pakistan have been on a losing sequence and there are no real superstars playing in this Test match.
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