Former Chief Selector Criticizes PCB for Dropping Babar Azam

Former Pakistan chief selector Iqbal Qasim has expressed his disappointment with the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to drop former captain Babar Azam following the national team’s opening loss to England in Multan.

He made his feelings known during an interview online, taking issue with the PCB’s handling of top-performing players, particularly Babar Azam, who has been one of the nation’s most consistent batters.

“Our mindset has become that the top performer automatically becomes captain, but when that cricketer faces a rough patch, they’re discarded without a second thought,” Qasim said. “We’ve grown used to Babar Azam scoring hundreds or fifties, and even his so-called ‘bad’ innings are around 30-35 runs, while other batsmen fail to reach that. Why is the bar set so high for him, that unless he scores a century, his place is questioned?”

The former Pakistan international emphasized the need to support players like Babar during challenging phases of their careers.

“Even greats like Zaheer Abbas went through tough times,” he noted. “During those times, they were supported. The same should apply to Babar. You cannot build a team without your superstars, like Majid Khan, Imran Khan, or Javed Miandad.”

“Saying Babar doesn’t deserve a place as a player is unjust,” Qasim added.

Iqbal Qasim is not alone in his sentiments with many current and former cricketers sharing the same point of view around his selection.

Babar Azam has endured a rough patch with the bat for some time now after being one of the most consistent batters in the world for years. He was dropped for the remainder of England series after another failure in the first test but is expected to earn a recall for the upcoming tour of Australia.