Former cricketer Basit Ali has urged the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to rest Babar Azam during the upcoming Test match against the West Indies in Multan before the Champions Trophy.
In the first Test match played in Multan, the host team Pakistan defeated the West Indies by 127 runs. However, in both innings of the match, Babar Azam scored only 8 and 5 runs before being dismissed.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Basit Ali stated that now is the best time to give Babar Azam a break. He pointed out that his continuous batting failures are affecting his confidence. Despite winning the series, Pakistan is not qualifying for the World Test Championship, so it’s crucial to rest Babar Azam while still keeping him in the playing eleven.
He further mentioned that if the pitch behaves similarly to the first Test, Babar’s confidence could be further harmed in the second Test.
Earlier, Babar Azam had been dropped from the home Test series against England last year.
Meanwhile, the second and final Test of the series between Pakistan and the West Indies will be played from January 25 to 29 at the Multan Cricket Stadium.