Former Pakistan batter Umar Akmal became the latest person to slam Babar Azam after Pakistan made a disappointing start to their Champions Trophy campaign with a loss to New Zealand. Akmal, who hasn’t played for the national side since 2019, said that Babar had failed to build Pakistan’s bench strength during his stint as skipper.
“Babar was captain for nearly five years most of the time in all formats and he never tried to build up the bench strength due to his likes and dislikes,” Umar told a TV channel.
Akmal also stated that he had approached Babar for a chance to make his comeback to the national side but his request was swiftly rejected.
“I told Babar that look give me a fair chance. You are doing well in the top order and I can be your finisher and we can win matches regularly and it will be good for Pakistan cricket,” he said.
“He didn’t listen to me and for five years when he was captain he never bothered to try to build a strong bench because only teams with good back up players do consistently well in all formats,” he added.
Babar served as Pakistan’s captain from late 2019 until late 2023 before stepping down following the 2023 World Cup. He was reinstated as captain in 2024 for white-ball formats but relinquished the role after a disappointing World T20 Cup campaign last year.
Umar, who is Babar’s cousin, represented Pakistan in 16 Tests, 121 ODIs, and 84 T20Is before being dropped from the national team in 2019. He stated that the Pakistan team has stagnated because talented players, who have performed consistently in domestic cricket, have not been given a fair chance under Babar’s leadership.
(With agency inputs)
