Pakistan Selector Aaqib Javed Breaks Silence On Claims Of Sidelining Babar Azam From T20Is
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Babar Azam - (Source:@FaridKhan/X.com)
PCB recently appointed Aaqib Javed as the interim white-ball head coach as Gary Kirsten ended his contract premautrely and Jason Gillespie took on the role for just one series that was against Australia.
It is worth noting that interim head coach Javed is also Pakistan's selector and was recently accused by many of sidelining Babar Azam from T20Is, who is going through a lean patch. In the latest events, the former Test pacer also rubbished speculations that batting stalwart Babar Azam and some other players were being targeted and eased out of T20 cricket ever since he became senior selector.
Aaqib Javed Talks About Babar Azam
"Look, cricket is not about individuals. In the end whatever we do as selectors, the idea is for Pakistan to win. How Babar batted in Australia everybody saw. We are not targeting anyone. We know that Babar, (Mohammad) Rizwan, Fakhar (Zaman) have loads of experience and have delivered in the past," remarked Javed.
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"But, right now, we are focussing on the Champions Trophy and one-day squad. We are keeping it open because we have to close our ODI side soon," he added.
Javed Reflects On Bringing Young Talent To The Team
He also said that the selectors were now giving opportunities to several young and new players because a larger pool will give Pakistan more options. The head coach also downplayed the importance of strike rate in T20 cricket.
"T20 is a different brand, you have to be aggressive from the start. In ODIs, you get a few overs to settle down and it is closer to Test matches. But, I think, more than strike rate what our players are behind (in) is game awareness even in T20s. Conditions and pitches vary all the time and our players have to develop more game awareness. The strike rate comes later," he added.
The inputs have been taken from PTI.
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