Babar Azam and Mohsin Naqvi during a meet. (Screengrab/Twitter)
There is a lot more than what meets the eye around the release of Babar Azam from the Pakistan Test team before the second Test against England.
According to a report by Pakistani journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti, the decision to rest Babar was not entirely his own and was influenced by factors beyond his control.
Bhatti also claimed that Mohsin Naqvi, the current PCB chief, played a role in the decision to rest Babar. He alleged that Naqvi engaged in "mind games" with Babar after the T20 World Cup and there was no direct communication between Babar and the PCB regarding his rest.
Instead, Azhar Mahmood, a former Pakistan cricketer and current coach, was tasked with breaking the news to Babar. Even Jason Gillespie, the team's head coach, was hesitant to deliver the news directly to the star batsman.
“Mohsin Naqvi played mind games after the T20 World Cup. There was no one on one interaction with Babar. What insiders have told me is that if PCB had given an option to Babar then he would have played the England series, he was not ready sit out. Azhar Mahmood took the responsibility to talk to Babar. Even Jason Gillespie was not comfortable in breaking the news to Babar,” claimed noted Pakistan journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti on Geo Super.
Babar has failed to score a half-century in his last 18 test innings, with a highest score of 41 against Australia in Melbourne last year.
Explaining the decision to leave Babar Azam, selector Aqib Javed, one of the members of the selection committee, said, “We’ve had to carefully consider current form of the player and the urgency to bounce back in the series. In the best interest of Pakistan cricket as well as the players, we’ve made the decision to rest Babar Azam, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed and Shaheen Shah Afridi.”
“They remain some of our finest talents with much more to contribute to Pakistan cricket,” Javed said. “We are fully committed to supporting them during this period so they can come back even stronger.”
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