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‘What Do You Do If…’: Saeed Ajmal Questions PCB Over Dropping Babar Azam And Rizwan

Bhargav Dixit

Saeed Ajmal backs Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan. [Source: @REALsaeedajmal & @SalmanAsif2007/X]Saeed Ajmal backs Babar Azam & Mohammad Rizwan. [Source: @REALsaeedajmal & @SalmanAsif2007/X]

Former Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has come down on PCB (Pakistan Cricket Board) for dropping former captains Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20I squad. Rizwan, in particular, was just two-series old in his T20I captaincy journey before facing the axe.

While the two A-list names are part of Pakistan’s ODI squad for the tour of New Zealand, they haven’t travelled with the T20I squad which will partake in a five-match series Sunday onward.

Ajmal Questions PCB’s Decision To Drop Babar & Rizwan

In a recent interview with Sportstar, Ajmal censured the “wrong” manner in which Azam and Rizwan were dropped in spite of being Pakistan’s top two run-scorers in the format. Overall, Azam and Rizwan are the second- and seventh-highest T20I run-scorers.

Referring to the pair as “great” as a whole and Azam as the “only star” Pakistan have, the 47-year-old chuckled at the farcical Pakistani cricketing selection process which could witness both Azam and Rizwan returning to the T20I squad in the near future.

“Mark my words, they will again get them back into the T20I team. If you want to send a clear message to Babar and Rizwan stating that they won’t be considered going forward, that’s one thing. But you have dropped them from T20Is, but they are still part of ODIs. So, what do you do if they score runs in ODIs against New Zealand? You bring them back again to the T20I squad?” Ajmal told Sportstar.

Former Pakistan spin-bowling coach Ajmal, who never shared the Pakistani dressing room with Azam but a few times with Rizwan in limited-overs cricket, reflects the general stagnation in Pakistan with respect to the shortest format. Modern-day demands of international cricket require both the white-ball formats to be treated as entirely different.

Therefore, irrespective of how well Azam and Rizwan play in ODI cricket, it shouldn’t earn them a T20I comeback till the time they don’t work on their outdated batting approach.