Babar Azam should be the Pakistan cricket team’s designated opener at the ICC Champions Trophy. That’s what former Pakistan captain and 1992 World Cup winner Wasim Akram thinks. The Men in Green had named their squad for the 8-team tournament on January 31, and Saim Ayub wasn’t included due to his ankle injury.
Babar Azam to replace Saim Ayub as Pakistan’s opener?
It was expected that he’ll be available for selection, but the rehabilitation process, which was originally set to be 6 weeks, seemingly has increased. In his absence, Pakistan needs an opener to partner with Fakhar Zaman. Akram thinks that Babar should be promoted to accommodate the absence of the youngster.
“I would like to see Rizwan as a middle-order batter and maybe ask Babar to open the inning. Babar has a brilliant technique. If he plays 50 overs and scores a hundred, the batting will revolve around him,” he said during a media talk.
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Saud Shakeel, the other opening option
What Akram said isn’t exactly new. A couple of days ago, Asad Shafiq, a member of the Pakistan selection committee, had stated that Fakhar would open the innings and that one of Babar Azam or Saud Shakeel would be his designated partner in the ICC Champions Trophy. Considering that Saud is a southpaw like Fakhar, PCB might opt for Babar.
“Fakhar’s opening partner could be either Babar Azam or Saud Shakeel, depending on various factors such as conditions, opposition, and match strategy,” Shafiq said in a PCB press release.
Pakistan’s squad for ICC Champions Trophy
Mohammad Rizwan (c & wk), Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha (vc), Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Shah Afridi
