NEW DELHI: As Pakistan face England in the second Test in Multan that got underway in Multan on Tuesday, cricketer-turned-commentator Ramiz Raja shared his thoughts on the exclusion of former captain and batting mainstay Babar Azam from the Test side.
In a clip shared by Sky Sports Cricket in which Ramiz Raja is talking at the sidelines after the toss, during the talk show that also has former England captain Nasser Hussain.
On being asked by the presenter as to what the selectors need to do with Babar Azam as his returns have been mediocre of late, Ramiz Raja responds, “It should have been Babar’s call, whether he wanted time out from the playing XI or not. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction, new selectors in, the general opinion was that he needed rest and he was taken out of the squad completely.”
Ramiz Raja adds, “Now we need to understand that he sells cricket for Pakistan and this debate that’s happening right now in Pakistan whether it’s going to be another failure for Babar Azam or whether he’s going to make a comeback and that keeps things interesting. Right now I don’t see any saleable commodity in this Pakistan team, because sponsors are a little wary as well because Pakistan has been on the losing sequence and there are no real superstars playing in this Test match now.”
The decision to leave out the top quartet for the final two Test matches against England – batter Babar Azam, former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, and elite pacers Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah-was supported by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Tuesday.
After suffering a historic loss by an innings and 47 runs in the first game of the series, Pakistan declared on Sunday that it was replacing its established stars with younger players, a move that caught the cricket world off guard.
According to the PCB, the decision to drop players from the team was made with Pakistan’s cricket team’s best interests in mind.
According to a PCB spokesman, the players were “spared from the team to give them rest so that they can come back afresh,” supporting the board’s decision.
The PCB’s announcement of the decision to reorganize the men’s selection committee before the decision. The selection committee has nominated Aleem Dar, Aaqib Javed, Azhar Ali, and Hassan Cheema as its new members.
The four seasoned players have been replaced by Haseebullah, Mehran Mumtaz, Mohammad Ali, an off-spinner, Haseebullah, and Kamran Ghulam.
