Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief Ramiz Raja maintained that dropping Babar Azam in the midst of the collection was a “knee-jerk” response from the administration and feels the droop in his batting type shouldn’t be due to his approach however is extra to do along with his psychological facet.
“He (Babar Azam) ought to have been requested whether or not he wanted time without work from cricket or not,” Raja informed reporters throughout a choose media interplay forward of Pakistan’s white-ball tour of Australia.
“Clearly, his type wasn’t nice, however even then, I imply, his physique of labor means that there ought to have been a significantly better means of easing him out from a Check collection. So it was most likely a knee-jerk response, however I’m positive that he’ll come again as a stronger particular person.
“That is most likely the primary time that he’s been dropped in his profession, and he will likely be wanting to show his level. So let’s see how the comeback is or whether or not he’s impressed, whether or not he has modified his approach, and the way motivated he’s as a result of such issues can spur a person,” he added.
The scrutiny round Babar Azam’s type has been magnified with every subsequent failure with the bat. The appropriate-handed batter hasn’t scored in 18 innings. Because the begin of 2023, Babar Azam’s common has been beneath 21 in 9 Assessments.
“I believe it’s lots to do along with his temperament in Check cricket. When his type slumps, then it takes an extended time for him to make a comeback in red-ball in comparison with white-ball cricket. So it’s a temperamental subject greater than the rest.
“From a technical viewpoint, you see he doesn’t keep nonetheless to the ball pitched on the again of the size facet, so he must be just a bit bit extra side-on. As a result of he’s been, of late, getting out caught behind to a ball that’s shifting away. Additionally, he struggles towards spin. You recognize he bats at quantity 4 in Check cricket, however in white-ball cricket, I don’t suppose he’s going to have plenty of issues towards spin. Once more, as I mentioned, he must tweak his psychological sport, not his approach,” he mentioned.
The lack of type throughout a turbulent time relating to his management standing has impacted Babar’s profession. Following Pakistan’s group-stage exit from the ODI World Cup in 2023, he was sacked from the captaincy in all codecs. Nevertheless, 4 months later, the T20I and ODI captaincy had been returned to him, with Shaheen Afridi sacked after only one collection.
Comply with Viv Richards’ blueprint
Babar Azam’s second stint was equally poor. Pakistan cricket workforce was eradicated from the T20 World Cup in 2024 within the first spherical after shedding to the USA and India. Simply six months after Babar Azam was reappointed, he left the captaincy, citing a need to deal with his batting.
Ramiz Raja says the star Pakistan batter has potential like legendary Viv Richards, and he should comply with the blueprint of the previous West Indies cricketer.
“I really feel Babar Azam has to realize much more in Check cricket. He performs the white-ball format very well and has a mean of 50-plus in each codecs (T20I and ODI)… There’s a lot potential in Babar Azam,” he mentioned.
“He has been Pakistan’s finest batsman within the final 10 years. Followers anticipate him to be a match-winner for Pakistan and, most likely he himself needs to be a big-match participant when there’s much more at stake. And that’s why I in contrast him with Richards; I believe that’s an excellent blueprint for Babar Azam to comply with. The larger the competition, the larger the innings Richards used to play. Like Richards, Babar Azam too seems to decimate the opposition.”