‘Not as bad as people make it out to be,’ Agha defends Babar’s form after World Cup selection

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha believes Babar Azam’s inclusion in the T20 World Cup is not as unreasonable as it is being portrayed. Babar had been out of Pakistan’s T20I side for much of the period since the previous T20 World Cup. Following that tournament, he only played six games for his side before being sidelined for nearly ten months.

The right-handed batter returned in October last year for a three-game South Africa series. He scored 68 at a strike rate of 144 in the second match, though his returns in the other two games remained dismal.

“Since Babar’s return after the Asia Cup, he even became Player of the Match in one game against South Africa, and the series was 1-1 going into the third game. Against Zimbabwe too, he scored around 70 runs. I feel that since his comeback, his performance hasn’t been as bad as people make it out to be,” Agha said when asked about Babar’s T20 World Cup inclusion.

Babar was called back from the Big Bash League (BBL), where he was playing for Sydney Sixers, to join the side ahead of the Australia series. His outings down under were subject to plenty of criticism as he scored at an average of 22 with a strike rate of 103. But for Salman, only the runs Babar makes for the national side matters.

“Yes, his Big Bash season wasn’t great, but the conditions there are different, and we rarely get such conditions here. Since he’s come back, he has been performing quite well in T20s for Pakistan. For me, what matters is how well he performs for Pakistan.”

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