The criticism faced by the men’s national team in Pakistan cricket at this time, with Babar Azam being one of those who is taking the brunt of it is very much an aspect. Many people see the 0-2 Test Series defeat against Bangladesh at home as a worse result for Pakistan in that contest over long periods. The dismal performance of top players such as Babar Azam is also one reason why the 22-yard pitch has yielded poor results for Pakistan. For months now, former cricketers from Pakistan have been attacking Babar, however Basit Ali had one piece of advice and that is marriage.
“Babar Azam, talk to your parents and get married. He will be completely different after that. I know how a player feels when he is not performing well. I request Babar’s parents to get him married. Like an elder brother, I want him to tell him Shaadi kar le bhai, ab umar zyada ho gayi hai teri (Get married brother, you are now old enough),” Basit Ali said in a video on his YouTube channel.
Following the culmination of last year’s ODI World Cup, Pakistan’s cricket team embarked on a tour to Australia for a three-match Test series. The team displayed poor performances in all aspects of the game and got whitewashed by their opponents. After the end of this series, there was an outcry from various quarters concerning Pakistani players‘ capabilities with bat and ball. Among those who fared poorly were Babar Azam who had an aggregate score of 126 runs at an average of 21 runs per game throughout three tests they played during the tour. Before heading for T20 World Cup held in England, Pakistan played four T20Is where Babar`s performance yielded only 68 runs from him at an average of 34.00 scored over two matches.
In the T20 World Cup, Babar faced yet another exposure on his bat after disappointing performances where he only managed 122 runs in four outings with an average of 40.66. But then again he was severely criticised for his poor strike rate of 101.66. In their recently concluded 2-match test series against Bangladesh, Babar could only manage to get a total of 64 runs from his bat in four innings together.
“It is a wake-up call for Pakistan cricket,” Latif said, “They cannot go lower than this. It is now time for them to rise up and wake up. If you still don’t open your eyes after losing to Bangladesh, then only play test series against Nepal and Afghanistan”. “Pakistan have learnt their lesson which will go down well with them”.
