Pakistani batsman Ahmed Shehzad has expressed the importance of experienced batsman Babar Azam in the Pakistan ODI team. He believes that Pakistan will need its most experienced and key batsman Baba Azam to win against Bangladesh on their tour.
Pakistan continued to struggle with Babar Azam’s poor form in the ICC T20 World Cup. They failed to fit him into the playing eleven, as he was not only failing to convert his starts but also struggling with a very low strike rate.
Pakistan is eager to make changes in its team after being eliminated from the competition. These changes may also include ignoring Babar Azam from the Pakistani team.
Ahmed Shehzad advised PCB to start preparations for the World Cup
Pakistan’s results in ICC tournaments have been very poor in the last two years. They have failed to qualify for the ICC semi-finals on four consecutive occasions in the last four years, including one 50-over World Cup, two T20 World Cups and one ICC Champions Trophy.
One of the major shortcomings of Pakistan in these tournaments has been their poor batting quality. They have failed to chase the target and have not been able to score enough runs for their bowlers to fight. According to Ahmed Shehzad’s opinion, to overcome these things, Pakistan team should make necessary changes from now so that they can make a suitable team by 2027.
Shahzad agreed with the show host, saying, “If you want to prepare for 2027, you should start preparing for the one-dayers right now.”
Ahmed Shehzad said, “If you don’t take Babar Azam in ODIs, how will you win? He is your number one player and without Babar Azam, it will not be easy for Pakistan to win.”
– Maaz (@IsThatMaaz) 3 March 2026
Ahmed Shehzad told why Babar Azam should tour Bangladesh
Pakistan should not consider dropping Babar Azam from the ODI squad ahead of their upcoming Bangladesh tour. According to Ahmed Shehzad’s opinion, he is still their No. 1 batsman in this format and has a huge impact on winning such games.
Shehzad said, “If we talk about Babar Azam, we should not degrade him so much. Whatever went wrong was not Babar’s fault. You should not drop him from the ODI team like in T20. Let him play in ODIs.”
“Don’t you want to win against Bangladesh? If Babar Azam doesn’t go on the tour, how will you win? He is your No. 1 player in one-dayers; he has also scored the most runs. They are a strong team; they will challenge you.”
“So, Babar Azam should be on this tour by all means. He doesn’t have the form at first glance, and since he hasn’t played one-dayers for a long time, if he plays it, his muscle memory will be revived,” Shehzad explained about the reasons for keeping Babar Azam in the team.
“They (Bangladesh) will give you difficult conditions to play and will ensure that Pakistan collapses” – Ahmed Shehzad
Former Pakistan batsman is a little scared that if Azam is not with him then Pakistan will lose against Bangladesh. He believes that his experience will be greatly needed in the challenging conditions of Bangladesh.
He said, “They (Bangladesh) will give you difficult conditions to play and ensure that Pakistan gets disintegrated. Then they will need experience; they will need players who can hold one end during the middle overs. For this, we need players who have done well in Bangladesh before.”
“We cannot lose to Bangladesh; this has to be kept in mind. So, from every aspect, I support Aamir; instead of single-handedly scolding Babar Azam and sending him to the domestic matches, we should send him to the one-day matches and let him get ready for that. Let him play the one-day games and let him go to Bangladesh,” agreed Shehzad and requested the PCB to retain Babar Azam’s place in the XI.
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