‘Not satisfied with the move’: Babar Azam slams management’s decision to demote him to no. 3

Former Pakistan men's cricket team captain Babr Azam has lamented that the decision taken by the team management to demote him from the opening slot was not right.

Babar was pushed down the batting order in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand earlier this year. Prior to the demotion, it was Babar and Mohammad Rizwan pair that opened the innings for Pakistan.

"I didn't feel or take any pressure whenever I open the innings (in T20Is). The team was demanding me to come down to No. three, and I did it for the team. If asked from a personal perspective, I was not satisfied with the move, but I did it for Pakistan," Babar said after a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match.

Despite not liking the change, Babar performed adequately in the series, coming in to bat at no. 3. He scored three half-centuries (57, 66, and 58 runs) but it wasn't enough as New Zealand won the series 4-1.

Notably, the decisionto change the batting spot of their star player was taken bycaptain Shaheen Afridi and former director of cricket, Mohammad Hafeez.

Hafeez revealed that it took himmore than two months to convince Babar to bat at no. 3 as it was better for the team in the long run.

Babar givesup captaincy

Babar's demotion came a few months after he stepped down as the team captain in all three formats post adisastrous World Cup campaign in India last year. Babar said it was a 'difficult decision' but the right time to make such a call.

The men-in-green lost five of their nine games, including a humbling defeat against arch-rivals India. The team also lost to neighbours Afghanistan and could not qualify for the knockouts, finishing in the fifth spot on the points table.

Pakistan as a unit looked miles behind the pace when compared to other teams. The subcontinent team was found guilty of playing an archaic brand of cricket in ODIs which boils down to the personality of the captain, experts argued.

(With inputs from agencies)