Former Pakistan chief selector SLAMS 'stubborn' Babar Azam, says he was reluctant to team changes

Former Pakistan chief selector Mohammad Wasim opened up on Babar Azam and slammed the right-handed batter. Wasim, who served as the chief selector during the star batter's captaincy era from 2020-2022, stated that Babar was 'very stubborn'and got upset whenever the selection committee made changes to the squad. However, Wasim revealed, more often than not, he had to step in to make him accept the changes.

'He was not ready to accept changes, I had to convince him'

Speaking to a local sports platform, Wasim shared his opinion on Babar and slammed him. He said, "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."

He further added,"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."

Babar was named Pakistan's T20I captain in 2020 before he became the all-format skipper later that year. While he had a good start to his captaincy career, it went downhill from 2022. Under him, Pakistan failed to win the Asia Cup 2022 (T20Is) and the T20 World Cup, ending as the finalists on both occasions and failed to even reach the semifinals of the 2023 ODI World Cup, in India. After the mega event, he stepped down as the all-format skipper before Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) reappointed him as the white-ball captain before this year's T20 WC.

Under Babar, Pakistan failed to make it to the Super 8s of the 2024 T20 WC, eventually won by Team India. At present, his white-ball captaincy future isn't certain.