Aqib Javed Clears the Air on Babar Azam’s Earlier Exclusion from T20I Squad

Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) Director of High Performance and national selector Aqib Javed has clarified whether he had any role in excluding Babar Azam from T20Is last year. Earlier, it was speculated by many people that Aqib Javed took the lead call to drop Babar Azam from Pakistan’s T20I team. He has now cleared the air surrounding this question, saying that it was a collective decision and he didn’t force anyone to do it.

For the unversed, Babar Azam was dropped from the T20I team last December due to struggling badly in the format. His performances in the 2024 T20I World Cup weren’t up to the mark, which further increased pressure on him. It was ultimately decided to give him some rest from T20I cricket, so that he could regain his form in the format by playing domestic cricket.

Recently, the star batter of Pakistan was called again by the selectors to join the T20I team. He performed well during the South Africa series, in which his superlative knock of 68 runs won the match for Pakistan in the series decider.

Ever since Babar made his comeback, fans have again started questioning Aqib Javed about whether he forced the committee to drop Babar Azam from the T20I team. In reply, the PCB national selector has now come out to rebuke this claim, saying that he didn’t make any decision on his own last year.

“Look, these are just common opinions people have, everyone has their own views. One thing a person must understand is that when you’re working in a certain position, criticism will come with it,” said PCB Director of High Performance Cricket, Aqib Javed.

He then explained how people praise or criticize players based on their performances. It is certainly natural for fans to criticize a player when the team loses any match. Similarly, praise and appreciation also come along whenever someone delivers a strong performance.  

“Credit always goes to the players, while criticism comes to the management, and I’m well aware of that. I always tell players that their praise or criticism depends entirely on their own performance. If you perform well, no one will criticize you; if you perform poorly, people will. That’s how it is,” said Aqib Javed.

Clarifying the stance on Babar Azam’s exclusion last year, Aqib Javed said that it was a collective decision taken by the selection committee. He completely rejected the idea that he has any personal issues with Babar, saying that these rumors do not hold any ground in reality.

“As for Babar, why would it matter to us whether we target one player or another? People say that since someone [Babar] was dropped from the T20 side, I must have a personal issue with him, but if that’s the case, then am I being personal with Babar only in one format?” asked Aqib Javed while trying to clarify his position.

He then said that if he had any issues with Babar, how could he still get a place in the team in other formats. This is certainly a valid clarification, because Babar Azam has been consistently playing for Pakistan in ODIs and test cricket for quite some time.

“For instance, I may not have any issue with him in Tests, only in T20s. And by the way, who am I, as an individual, to select or drop anyone? These are collective decisions, made by the entire selection committee. I’m not at the level where I can favor or go against any player on a personal basis,” said Aqib Javed.

Babar Azam is currently playing the ODI series against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi. This series is important for him, because fans are expecting him to score runs in his favorable home conditions. Getting runs in this series will give him confidence for the upcoming T20I Tri-Series, which will be played between Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe in the latter half of November.