Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali feels star batter Babar Azam is likely to be dropped from the playing XI for the team’s next T20 World Cup 2026 fixture.
During a discussion on the YouTube show ‘Game Plan’, Basit slammed Babar after his abysmal outing in Pakistan’s T20 World Cup opener against the Netherlands. The former Pakistan captain slowed the tempo of his team’s 148-run chase before throwing away his wicket. Basit suggested that the management is unlikely to persist with Babar, who scored 15 off 18 balls, for the next game.
“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,” said Basit.
The former batter went on to claim that Babar is not fit enough to play T20 cricket, adding that he is far from being a superstar in the format.
“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?” he added.
He also argued that Pakistan has much better T20 players than Babar, adding that he is a complete misfit.
“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. After what Steve Smith did with Babar Azam in the Big Bash League, people still haven’t become wise! He denied a single just to prevent Babar from getting on strike. His game is not suited to T20s,” noted Basit.
Pakistan survived a huge scare in their clash against the Netherlands, thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s unbeaten cameo of 29 off just 11 balls.