Tag: Babar Azam

Pakistan’s ace batter Babar Azam is on the verge of achieving a major milestone in ODI cricket during the upcoming three-match series against Australia, scheduled to commence on 4 November.

Pakistan is currently on the tour of Australia for a six-match white-ball series. The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the ODI series opener, while the subsequent matches are scheduled on November 8 and 10 in Adelaide and Perth, respectively.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series, scheduled to commence on November 14.

The right-handed batter needs 271 runs in three innings to breach the 6000-run barrier.

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Furthermore, Babar Azam also has the opportunity to break South Africa’s batting great Hashim Amla’s long-standing record of fastest to 6000 ODI runs.

The South African legend achieved the feat in 123 innings while Babar has 5729 runs in 114 innings.

Pakistan Squad for Australia Tour

ODI SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Schedule of Pakistan’s white-ball tour to Australia

Pakistan vs Australia ODI series schedule:

November 4: First ODI at MCG, Melbourne
November 8: Second ODI at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
November 10: Third ODI at Perth Stadium, Perth

Pakistan vs Australia T20I series schedule:

November 14: First T20I at The Gabba, Brisbane
November 16: Second T20I at SCG, Sydney
November 18: Third T20I at Bellerive Oval, Hobart

READ: Saud Shakeel, Noman Ali enter top ten in ICC Test Rankings

MELBOURNE: A total of seven members from Pakistan squad including Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah touched down in Australia for the white-ball series, scheduled to commence on November 4.

Besides the trio of Babar, Shaheen and Naseem, three more players including Muhammad Irfan Khan, Haris Rauf and Faisal Akram reached Melbourne.

The second group of Pakistan’s white-ball squad will depart for Melbourne from Karachi later today. Ahead of the departure, the newly-appointed white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan will address the media at a local hotel in Karachi.

The Australia tour will run from 4-18 November, followed by a white-ball series in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, which will be played from 24 November to 5 December.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squads for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe yesterday.

The cricket board also appointed wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan as the captain for Pakistan’s white-ball team ahead of the upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

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Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were given a break from the last two Tests against England, returned for the Australia matches but will be rested for the Zimbabwe tour.

Similarly, Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the Australia matches and Zimbabwe ODIs, but will be rested from the Zimbabwe T20Is.

All-rounder Salman Ali Agha, who has been appointed as the vice-captain, will lead the team in Rizwan’s absence during the T20I series against Zimbabwe.

Pakistan Squad for Australia Tour

ODI SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

T20I SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan.

READ: Shahid Afridi backs Mohammad Rizwan’s appointment as white-ball captain

Pakistan squad members, including star players Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah, departed for Australia earlier today to partake in the six-match white-ball series, starting on 4 November.

A total of seven players have departed today, while the rest of the squad will join them later.

The Australia tour will run from 4-18 November, followed by a white-ball series in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, which will be played from 24 November to 5 December.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squads for the tours to Australia and Zimbabwe yesterday.

Follow us on our Official WhatsApp channel

The cricket board also appointed wicket-keeper Mohammad Rizwan as the captain for Pakistan’s white-ball team ahead of the upcoming tours of Australia and Zimbabwe.

Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi, who were given a break from the last two Tests against England, returned for the Australia matches but will be rested for the Zimbabwe tour.

Similarly, Mohammad Rizwan will be available for the Australia matches and Zimbabwe ODIs, but will be rested from the Zimbabwe T20Is.

All-rounder Salman Ali Agha, who has been appointed as the vice-captain, will lead the team in Rizwan’s absence during the T20I series against Zimbabwe.

Pakistan Squad for Australia Tour

ODI SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc) and Shaheen Shah Afridi.

T20I SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan

Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe Tour

ODI SQUAD: Mohammad Rizwan (c)(wk), Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir

T20I SQUAD: Salman Ali Agha (c), Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (wk), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan

READ: Key players rested as Australia unveil squad for Pakistan T20Is

LAHORE: Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan were retained in Category A as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced central contracts for the 2024-25 international season on Sunday.

“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has awarded 12-month central contracts to 25 men’s cricketers for the 2024-25 international season, effective from 1 July 2024,” the PCB’s press release stated.

“The contracts have been offered under the structure that was agreed last year between the players and the PCB for a three-year period.

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“As part of the PCB’s strategy to incentivise, encourage and reward talented and emerging cricketers, five players have been offered central contracts for the first time.

“They are Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Muhammad Irfan Khan and Usman Khan. These players have been placed in Category D.”

Men’s Central Contract List for the 2024-25 season

List of centrally contracted players:

Category A (2): Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan

Category B (3): Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood

Category C (9): Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shadab Khan

Category D (11): Aamir Jamal, Haseebullah, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Hurraira, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr and Usman Khan

READ: Rohit Sharma says no pressure despite New Zealand Test defeat

Star batter Babar Azam and ace pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi reacted to Pakistan’s home Test series victory after a gap of more than three years.

Pakistan were in heaps of trouble after succumbing to an innings and 47 runs defeat in the opening fixture, which saw England rack up a humongous total of 823/7d in the first innings, courtesy of Harry Brook’s triple century and Joe Root’s double century.

The under-fire hosts needed a miracle to fight for the series glory and they made four massive changes to their squad for the remaining two Tests, which marked the ouster of big names like Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah.

Consistent domestic performer Kamran Ghulam replaced Babar, while the dynamic spin duo of Sajid Khan and Noman Ali came in as Shaheen and Naseem’s replacement.

The spin duo dismantled England in the remaining two Tests and picked up 39 out of their 40 wickets, while another late entrant Zahid Mahmood bagged the solitary wicket.

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Besides troubling England with their spin mastery, Sajid and Noman chipped in with the bat, providing handy contributions.

The mid-series additions Sajid Khan and Noman Ali played a pivotal role in marking an astounding turnaround for Pakistan, who recovered from 0-1 down to beat England 2-1 and seal their first Test series victory at home since 2021.

Meanwhile, star batter Babar Azam, who was dropped from the squad after the opening Test, owing to his string of below-par performances, congratulated the team on an “incredible turnaround” and also lauded Sajid Khan and Noman Ali.

“Phenomenal effort once again to make a grand comeback. Amazing turnaround by Noman and Sajid! Congratulations, Team Pakistan,” Babar posted on Instagram.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi hailed Sajid and Noman for “pitch-perfect” performances and vice-captain Saud Shakeel for a gutsy century.

“What an incredible way to introduce #AqibBall to the world. Pitch-perfect performance from the spin duo Noman and Sajid, and incredible century by Saud Shakeel. Congratulations Pakistan,” wrote Shaheen on his Instagram story.

READ: New Zealand hand India first home Test series defeat in 12 years

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s red-ball head coach Jason Gillespie on Thursday, expressed his confidence in the ability of star batter Babar Azam to make a strong comeback in all formats.

Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances recently. He crashed out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings last month after a forgettable home Test series against Bangladesh, where he managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings.

Meanwhile, in the first Test against England, he scored 35 runs in two innings after which he was dropped from the squad for the remainder of the series.

Babar was replaced by consistent domestic performer Kamran Ghulam, who grabbed the opportunity with both hands and smashed a century in his very first innings, which turned out to be pivotal in Pakistan’s 152-run victory over England in the second Test.

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Meanwhile, Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie expects Babar Azam to continue playing a “huge role” for the Green Shirts and scoring lots of runs on his comeback.

“Well again, I. I cannot answer that because I’m not a selector. But what I will say is that Babar is a fine player. I think he’s one of the best players in the world. And, yeah, he had a bit of a lean, lean patch, but I don’t think, but I don’t think many great players around the world have never had a lean patch,” Gillespie said.

“I’m very confident. Babar Will will be back scoring a lot of runs for Pakistan in all formats. He’s just too good a player. He works really, really hard in his game. He’s very precise with his preparation and what he needs to do to get ready. I fully expect him to have a huge role, going forward in the next little while for Pakistan,” he added.

READ: Mohammad Amir comes out in support of Babar Azam

Former Pakistan cricketer and chief selector Iqbal Qasim has raised questions over the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) decision to drop star batter Babar Azam from the national team’s squad midway through the Test series against England in Multan.

Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances recently. He crashed out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings last month after a forgettable home Test series against Bangladesh, where he managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings.

Meanwhile, in the first Test against England, he scored 35 runs in two innings after which he was dropped from the squad for the remainder of the series.

In Babar’s absence, the Shan Masood-led team defeated England by 152 runs to level the three-match series and claim their first Test victory at home since February 2021.

Iqbal Qasim expressed his disappointment over the treatment of Babar during an interview with a local sports website. He stated that the cricket board should have supported the star batter in his bad phase.

“Our mindset has become such that whoever is the top performer is made the captain. But when that cricketer faces a bad phase, he is removed like a fly from milk,” said Qasim.

He emphasized that Babar has been facing excessive expectations, which has been adding to the pressure on him.

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“We’ve become accustomed to seeing Babar Azam score hundreds and fifties, and even his ‘bad’ innings are around 30-35 runs, while other batsmen struggle to even reach that. Why is the criteria for Babar set so high that if he scores 100, he will stay in the team, and he has to score 100 in every match?” the former chief selector stated.

Iqbal Qasim also highlighted that losing form is part and parcel of the game, but players should be supported during their bad patch.

“Every great cricketer, including Zaheer Abbas, has faced tough times. During those times, we need to support them and boost their morale,” he added.

“Why is the standard for Babar Azam so high that only a hundred keeps him in the team? You can’t form a team without your superstars like Majid Khan, Imran Khan, or Javed Miandad.

“My personal opinion is that Babar has served as captain, reached a good position, and has been a top performer, ranked number 1 in the world.

He has countless fans in India, England, and Pakistan. He needed support; we should have played him, even if you removed him from captaincy. As a player, he deserves a spot. If you say he doesn’t deserve a spot as a player, that’s just unfair.”

READ: Lahore Qalandars among top five teams in Global Super League

DUBAI: Pakistan all-rounder Salman Ali Agha enjoyed significant gains, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan experienced a further drop in their positions in the latest ICC Test Batting Rankings released on Wednesday.

Babar Azam dropped four places to 19th with 677 points after missing the second Test against England. He was dropped from the squad after the first Test owing to his extended poor run of form.

He managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings during the home Test series against Bangladesh last month, while in the first Test against England, he scored only 35 runs

On the other hand, Mohammad Rizwan lost two spots to 21 with 669 rating points following his below-par performance in the two Tests against England where he managed only 74 runs.

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Salman Ali Agha, who has been enjoying a purple patch lately, earned the rewards for his impressive batting performance as he jumped eight places to claim the 14th spot in the ICC Test Batting Rankings.

He has scored 261 runs in the ongoing series so far with an unbeaten century and two half-centuries with an average of 87.

Pakistan’s Test vice-captain Saud Shakeel also suffered a steep decline, falling seven places to 27th position with 642 points after scoring a meagre 146 runs in two Tests against England.

Notably, spin bowlers Sajid Khan and Noman Ali made a remarkable return to the Pakistan team in the second Test against England. They shared 20 wickets to steer the team to their first victory on home soil in the last three years.

Consequently, Sajid Khan jumped a whopping 22 places to the 50th spot, while Noman Ali was re-instated at the 17th position in the ICC Test Bowling Rankings.

READ: Michael Atherton skeptical about Rawalpindi pitch mirroring Multan conditions

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has offered some advice to Pakistan’s star batter Babar Azam, suggesting him to play domestic cricket in order to rediscover his top form.

Babar has been under tight scrutiny due to his below-par performances recently. He crashed out of the top ten list in the ICC Test Batting Rankings last month after a forgettable home Test series against Bangladesh, where he managed a meagre 64 runs in four innings.

Meanwhile, in the first Test against England, he scored 35 runs in two innings after which he was dropped from the squad for the remainder of the series.

In Babar’s absence, the Shan Masood-led team defeated England by 152 runs to level the three-match series and claim their first Test victory at home since February 2021.

Virender Sehwag, during an appearance on former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar’s YouTube channel, opened up on Babar Azam’s recent struggles and advised him to regain his form by playing domestic cricket.

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“Babar Azam should play domestic cricket now. He should work on his fitness, he should spend some time with family, then come back to international cricket as a physically fitter and mentally stronger player,” said Sehwag.

The former Indian all-rounder expressed the view that Babar’s mental state has been influenced by the expectations of fans and his role as captain, which in turn has had an impact on his individual performance.

“With expectations from Babar decreasing and his resignation from captaincy, it seems he has been more impacted mentally than in terms of technique,” he added.

Sehwag also conveyed his belief in Babar’s exceptional talent and expressed optimism that Babar would be able to make a strong comeback as long as he remains mentally resilient.

“He needs to stay mentally strong. He’s a talented player, and players like him tend to bounce back quickly,” he concluded.

READ: Babar Azam’s father addresses fans amid his son’s recent struggles

Babar Azam’s father, Azam Siddique, has addressed the fans in light of his son’s recent challenges and has given his assurance that Babar will make a strong comeback in the near future.

Azam Siddique’s reaction came after Pakistan thumped England by 152 runs in the second Test, registering their first victory at home in Test cricket since their win against South Africa back in February 2021.

Ahead of the aforementioned fixture, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) made four surprising changes, including dropping their star batter Babar Azam, who has not crossed the fifty-run barrier in the format since December 2022.

Consistent domestic performer Kamran Ghulam, who came in as Babar’s replacement, smashed a well-crafted century on debut, pivotal in guiding Pakistan to a formidable total in the first innings.

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Ghulam’s century made things worse for Babar as social media trolls targetted the latter, claiming that the national team eventually won at home after he was dropped.

Following the social media campaign against his son, Azam Siddique took to his Instagram account and clarified that his son was not dropped but rested to freshen up ahead of the upcoming white-ball series against Australia.

He also expressed confidence and assured fans that Babar will make a resounding comeback in the near future.

“I have no complaints against friends nor any grievances with the world. Insha’Allah (God willing), you will soon see Babar [Azam] playing in front of you,” the star batter’s father posted.

“PCB has given him rest to rejuvenate. We are content with the will of Allah, as we were and always will be. Long live Pakistan.”

 

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A post shared by M.Azam Siddique (@azam_siddique_65)

It’s worth noting that Babar will not be part of the lineup for the upcoming third and series-deciding Test in Rawalpindi, which will be played from 24-28 October.

However, he is likely to return to the team for the six-match white-ball series in Australia, which will embark with the ODI series on 4 November.

The iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) will host the series opener, while the subsequent matches are scheduled on November 8 and 10 in Adelaide and Perth, respectively.

The ODI series will be followed by a three-match T20I series, scheduled to commence on November 14.

Schedule of Pakistan’s white-ball tour to Australia

Pakistan vs Australia ODI series schedule:

November 4: First ODI at MCG, Melbourne
November 8: Second ODI at Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
November 10: Third ODI at Perth Stadium, Perth

Pakistan vs Australia T20I series schedule:

November 14: First T20I at The Gabba, Brisbane
November 16: Second T20I at SCG, Sydney
November 18: Third T20I at Bellerive Oval, Hobart

READ: New Zealand end 36-year wait by crushing India in first Test