Ever since Babar Azam was dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the last two Tests against England, the cricket fraternity has been expressing their views on the shocking decision. Babar is arguably the most prominent player in Pakistan cricket today.
Despite his poor form, he was not expected to be dropped as he is Pakistan’s main batsman. Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra reacted to this decision and shared his views. Chopra claimed that this time Babar had been made the scapegoat after Pakistan’s poor performance in the first Test.
Chopra also discussed whether Babar Azam’s replacement would be better than him or not. He questioned the PCB’s decision to sack the country’s top cricketer after some public outcry.
Also Read: Sarfaraz Ahmed sits in meeting to remove Babar Azam; is dropped from Pakistan team in next meeting
Aakash Chopra reacts to PCB’s shocking decision to remove Babar Azam
While speaking in a video on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra spoke about the embarrassing defeat and stated that the PCB had to find a scapegoat to cover up the problems. He pointed out that Babar Azam was reputed to be the GOAT player, but had not been able to perform as such.
“This time it is not a scapegoat, they said they will cut the GOAT because if we talk about Pakistan, Babar Azam’s reputation was made and improved as a GOAT player. He used to say that the king would do it, but the runs were not “They won’t score on me, there’s no doubt about that,” Chopra said.
Babar Azam recorded scores of 30 and 5 in both innings in the first Test in Multan. He has not been able to cross the fifty-run mark since the last 18 Test innings. He has averaged just 20.33 in the last nine Tests.
Aakash Chopra questions Babar Azam’s replacement
Aakash Chopra further questioned about Babar’s replacement and whether he would be better than him or not. He discussed the PCB’s reason for dropping Pakistan’s star batsman from the team and questioned whether he had been made a scapegoat this time.
“My question is when you leave him and bring in someone else, is he better than him? That’s the first question. The second question is that you can’t score runs or regain your form by sitting out. Was it the right time or since? Was there so much public outcry that you said you had to make someone a scapegoat? Chopra argued.
The former India opener was also against comparing Babar Azam’s poor run of form with Virat Kohli’s. He claimed that players like Kohli, Rohit and Bumrah even contribute when they are not fit.
“Some people compare and say India didn’t abandon Virat. Let’s not compare. Babar Azam was on Virat Kohli’s path, but that path is very far away. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah can afford a longer lean spell, and they are contributing even in their lean times,” Chopra explained.
Recently, Fakhar Zaman supported Babar Azam saying that the board should not rule him out as he is their main batsman.
Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah also fell
Babar Azam is going through the worst phase of his career right now. The 29-year-old has been struggling to get runs even on flat batting wickets like Multan. Along with him, fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah were also dropped from the team for the last two Tests.
Shaheen and Babar are also some of the high-profile names in Pakistan cricket but they are going through a rough patch in the last few games. The second test of the series will be played from October 15 to 19 in Multan on the same ground.