PAK vs ENG: "Na Unki Hum Sunte He...": Babar Azam Shuts Pakistan Great For Strike Rate Criticism With Stern Warning - Watch

Pakistan Cricket Team Captain Babar Azam is facing some tough times as the batter’s form is nowhere great. The recently concluded Asia Cup 2022 has raised a lot of questions regarding his batting intent. The team was heavily reliant on Rizwan to produce match-winning knocks which is not a great sign in a mega event.

Babar Azam would be aware that his team has the last chance to regroup against England T20I Series. The Men in Green are going to play 7 T20I matches which would be ample to figure out the best combination for IC T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia. The skipper would be well aware of the fact that he needs to pull up his socks as the middle order of Pakistan is a bit fragile.

Babar Azam & Aaqib Javed War of Words

Aaqib Javed shared an anecdote on Pak.tv where he criticized the selectors for relying too much on Babar & Rizwan. “Our only mindset is to persist with these two openers and rely on them. They are effective, but where? When you have scores of 150-160 or lower. When we have a match with Karachi Kings and the total is 180+, we never really tried or wished to get Babar Azam out early. He bats at his own pace, and the (required) run rate keeps rising. Mohammad Rizwan also did well in the PSL, but when these two bat together, you see similar performances from them.”,

Ahead of the start of the England series at home on Tuesday, Babar was asked by a reporter about the strike rate criticism and he warned Javed of not making personal attacks, not just on him, but also on any member of the team.

“Agar unko lagta hoga ki out na kaare toh achhi baat he mere liye. Har ek ka apna point of view hota he. I think it’s better if we focus now on the Pakistan team. Logon ki apni opinion hoti he. Na unki hum sunte he ki woh kya kehe rahein he, bahar ki batein humlog andar nehi laate na unse sunte he. Aap baat karein but mere kheyal se jab aap in cheezon se guzre hote he and saare players in cheezon se guzre he toh pata hi kitna mushkil hota he, kitna pressure hota he responsibilities hote he so personal attacks nehi hone chaiye, me puri team ki baat kar raha hu. (It’s okay if he feels that way. Everyone has their point of view and I think it’s better we think from Pakistan’s perspective. He might have his opinion; however, we don’t listen to him. We don’t discuss outer talks within the team. Every player has gone through tough situations in their career so there shouldn’t be any personal attacks),” he said.

Watch: Babar Azam reply to Aaqib Javed

Alex Hales set for a Dream Comeback

Alex Hales is coming back to International Setup after 2019 and since then he has been playing leagues all around the world. PSL has played a critical role in his career and ECB would be hoping that the team benefits from his experience. Alex Hales’s game plan is quite aggressive and he doesn’t fear taking any bowler down.

It would be interesting to see whether Hales changes his approach or continues his fearless as International Cricket & Franchise Cricket are two different flavours. The management would be hoping that Alex Hales proves to be a turning point for England’s revival in T20I Cricket as currently, the team is not in a good space after losing the series against India & South Africa.

Also Read : PAK vs ENG: Pakistan Skipper Babar Azam Eyes To Regain No.1 Spot In ICC Rankings