PAK vs ENG: "Babar Azam will continue to get trapped in difficulties and won't be able to perform"- Pakistan legend

Former Pakistan cricketer Moin Khan has warned the country's star batter Babar Azam that won't be able to perform at his best and will have difficulties if he does not positively take his criticism. Babar will feature in the upcoming Test series between Pakistan and England.

Babar is going through the worst patch of his career right now. His batting form is at its lowest point and his captaincy too is in danger. In his recent international series against Bangladesh, Babar failed miserably as did Pakistan.

Babar scored just 64 runs in the two Tests against Bangladesh at an average of 16 as Pakistan were whitewashed 0-2 by a visiting Bangladesh team. Things clearly can't go worse than this for Pakistan and Babar Azam.

Also read: IND vs AUS: Ricky Ponting warns Australia to beware of this Indian player, no mention of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma

Moin Khan warns Babar Azam

While most of the country's experts and former cricketers are criticizing Babar, Moin Khan rated him an extraordinary cricketer but advised him to be mentally strong to overcome this criticism. Moin also warned the 29-year-old top-order batter to take the criticism positively, otherwise his performance will not improve.

"Babar Azam is an extraordinary cricketer but he needs to become mentally stronger. He should take the criticism in a positive way; otherwise, he will continue to get trapped in difficulties and won't be able to perform," Moin Khan was quoted as saying by a local sports journalist Saleem Khaliq.

Babar Azam is an extraordinary cricketer but he needs to become mentally stronger. He should take the criticism in a positive way; otherwise, he will continue to get trapped in difficulties and won't be able to perform.Moin Khan

— Saleem Khaliq (@saleemkhaliq) September 12, 2024

Babar had a mediocre ODI World Cup 2023 as he scored 320 runs in 9 matches at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 82.90. His performance was the main reason why Pakistan were unable to qualify for the World Cup semi-final for the third time in a row.

He was removed from the captaincy following Pakistan's below-par performance and Shaheen Afridi was appointed the team's new T20I captain. But Shaheen had a disappointing debut T20I series against New Zealand where Pakistan lost 1-4.

Mohsin Naqvi took over the role of PCB chairman from Zaka Ashraf and brought back Babar as the captain for the T20 World Cup 2024. But Pakistan suffered s shocking low point as they could not even qualify to the Super 8 stage of the tournament, losing to USA and India in the group stage.

Babar Azam in T20 World Cup 2024

Babar Azam's performance in the T20 World Cup 2024 wasn't great as he scored 122 runs in 4 matches at a strike rate of 101.66. If this wasn't enough, Pakistan went on to lose a Test series to Bangladesh at home.

Pakistan's next assignment is the three-match Test series against England at home. It will be a stern test for the Men in Green who will be aiming to get back to the winning ways. England have shown good form recently and are coming on the back of consecutive series wins against West Indies and Sri Lanka.