'Former Pakistan players should keep mouth shut': Saeed Ajmal furious at PCB for dropping Babar Azam from NZ series

Babar Azam has been dropped from Pakistan's T20I squad for NZ series. (Photo: ICC)

Pakistan's decision to exclude star batter Babar Azam from the T20I squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand has sparked significant controversy. Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has strongly criticized the move, questioning the Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) rationale for sidelining one of the team's premier players.

The squad overhaul comes in the wake of Pakistan’s disappointing Champions Trophy campaign, where they were eliminated in the group stage. As part of the changes, the selection committee also dropped wicketkeeper-batter and captain Mohammad Rizwan.

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Despite their impressive records, both Babar and Rizwan have faced criticism for their strike rates, which some argue contribute to slow starts in T20 cricket. However, Ajmal views Babar's exclusion as a short-sighted decision that could harm Pakistan’s cricketing future. Speaking to Sportstar, he openly criticized the PCB’s handling of the situation.

"Aapke paas ek hi toh star hai (You have only one star). If you degrade him also, then how will your cricket run? These are the big issues. Our former cricketers should keep their mouths shut," Ajmal remarked.

The former spinner emphasized that every cricketer experiences a slump in form and that Babar deserves patience and support. Drawing parallels with legendary cricketers, Ajmal reinforced that no player can consistently perform at their peak.

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"As a cricketer, one must realise that bad patches are part of a player’s career. You can’t play cricket the same way all your life. Even if you were Sachin Tendulkar, you couldn’t score 100 runs in every match," he added.

Pakistan have faced numerous defeats in the T20I format as well recently. Their only series win in the last four played came against Zimbabwe. The team were thrashed out the 2024 T20 World Cup losing to USA and India. The selectors have now made a hard call but Ajmal belived that dropping Rizwan and Babar will not solve the problem.

“Look, the way you’ve removed them is wrong. It’s not like they are the only ones who haven’t scored while others have. That’s not the case. Ideally, the selectors should sit down with Babar and discuss rest so that he can come back stronger,” Ajmal stated.

He also mentioned Virat Kohli, noting that the Indian batting legend prefers to build his innings steadily rather than adopting an all-out aggressive approach.

“Babar and Rizwan are great players. Their stats are as good as anyone’s, but the only difference is that they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively.

“Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven matchwinners, you don’t need aggression. Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style,” said Ajmal.