New Delhi: Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali feels Babar Azam will be dropped from Pakistan’s playing XI in their upcoming clash against USA in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2026. Babar flopped at no.4 in Pakistan’s opener against Netherlands on Saturday as the Men in Green survived an early scare to earn a close three-wicket win.
Asked to chase 148, Pakistan were in all sorts of troubles at 114/7 against Netherlands. However, a fiery late cameo of 11-ball 29 from all-rounder Faheem Ashraf helped them chase down the target with three balls to spare. Ashraf was dropped on 7 by Max ODowd and made the most of the reprieve to help Pakistan avoid an early upset in the T20 World Cup 2026.
Batting at the crucial no.4 spot, Babar endured a dismal outing in the game as he was dismissed cheaply on 15 off 18 balls. The star batter took his time to settle down, but failed to accelerate when needed and ended up throwing his wicket away under pressure.
Speaking on YouTube show The Game Plan, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali pointed out how Pakistan’s head coach Mike Hesson was visibly angry after Babar’s dismissal against Netherlands and that the star batter might be dropped from the playing XI for their next group-stage clash against USA.
“I have a feeling that Babar will not play in Pakistan’s next game. The anger I saw on coach Mike Hesson’s face… I don’t think that he will play Babar at no 4 again in the next game,” Basit Ali said on the YouTube show The Game Plan.
The former Pakistan cricketer also launched scathing criticism at Babar, calling out his style of play in T20Is. Basit said Babar’s game is not suited for the shortest format and that he can’t be labelled a superstar in the format, as Pakistan already have several better players than him in T20Is.
“If you call Babar Azam a superstar in ODIs or Tests, I might still agree. But in T20Is? Kahaan se superstar hai? (How is he a superstar?) A batter who drops down from his regular batting position and comes out to bat at no 4, and cannot even tell the management that he’s not a no 4 batter! Doesn’t Babar know this?,” asked Basit Ali.
“Even a club cricketer will tell you that in T20s, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf… they are all better players in the format than Babar! Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub are also better T20 players than Babar. Even Salman Ali Agha has shown that he’s a better player at No 3 than Babar,” he added.