Newly-appointed head coach of Pakistan\u2019s white-ball cricket team Aqib Javed touched on star batter Babar Azam\u2019s inclusion and position in the T20I team. The former captain, who has been going through a tough patch across all formats of the game, also had an unimpressive run in the recent three-match T20I series against Australia where he only scored 47 runs at a meagre average of 15.66 and strike-rate of 142.42. Aqib while addressing the media in Lahore on Wednesday, was asked whether Babar would be considered for T20Is. \u201cSenior players like Babar and Rizwan have a value. They performed over the years for Pakistan,” he said. Earlier, commenting on Babar\u2019s woes in the aforementioned series, former cricketer Basit Ali had claimed that the third T20I against Australia was the batter\u2019s last in the format, since Aqib \u2014 one of the most vocal critiques of star batter \u2014 had taken the reins of the white-ball side. \u201cAs long as Aqib Javed is the head coach, this may be Babar Azam\u2019s last T20 match,\u201d Basit had said during a local TV programme. \u201cI am simply stating what is evident. You have a premium batsman averaging just 14 runs across three matches. What kind of batsman gets dismissed before the eighth over?\u201d he had questioned. However, Aqib in his address debunked Basit\u2019s claim and highlighted Babar’s contributions to the team over the years and reiterated that “every person has its own opinion but our focus is not to target any individual”. \u201cEveryone saw Babar playing in the last three ODIs. I mean, look, when you become a coach or a selector, then it\u2019s not about individual [preference]. Your goal is to improve Pakistan cricket,” the head coach added. \u201cWhatever efforts we put in did not favour any individual but Pakistan cricket as a whole. If you won the series against England it was won by Pakistan cricket,” Aqib said while addressing the media. \u201cSo, our focus remains solely to try and improve the image and results of Pakistan cricket,” he concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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