Babar, Rizwan axing shows deep turmoil in Pakistan cricket

Kolkata: It has been a whirlwind last few weeks for Pakistan cricket. First came a 202-run defeat in Tarouba, deciding a 2-1 ODI series win for West Indies, their first over Pakistan in 34 years. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan then didn’t find a place in the Pakistan squad for the T20 Asia Cup. Two days later, they were demoted from the premier category of the central contracts. Non-performance was deemed the main reason, and there was no sugarcoating it in the press briefings that followed. Pakistan selectors have axed Babar Azam (L) and Mohammad Rizwan for the T20 Asia Cup to be played in the UAE from September 9. (AFP)

The numbers are damning as well. In the Tarouba ODI where Pakistan were shot out for 91, Azam and Rizwan made 9 and 0. Through 2024, Azam’s T20I strike rate was 133.21 and Rizwan’s 117.30. Yet, rarely could anyone else dare open the batting. It didn’t matter what the total was, Azam and Rizwan were the flavour of the season. Much of this aura came from the 2021 World Cup where an unbeaten 152-run partnership between them saw Pakistan inflict a 10-wicket defeat on India. But nothing much has transpired since then to inspire similar confidence.

Since 2022, Pakistan have won six out of 24 Tests, 31 out of 54 ODIs, and 34 out of 78 T20Is. Rizwan and Azam’s form too has been indifferent. Azam was once scoring quicker than Virat Kohli, but the control percentage was then waning rapidly. Rizwan was consuming too many deliveries in his effort to anchor chases, making Pakistan’s losses look even worse. Shoaib Akhtar was caustic after the Tarouba defeat, suggesting that they are flat track bullies. “The ball moves a bit and they are in trouble. You can’t carry Rawalpindi pitches everywhere,” the former fast bowler said on a post-match show.

“The environment has changed, and in the last 10-15 years everyone has started playing for themselves. Everyone is playing for their averages. The intent should be to win matches for your country. We need to change the intent, the mindset, and create that atmosphere. You need to play according to modern cricket. How hard is that to understand?” said Akhtar.

A warning shot was fired off earlier this year when Rizwan and Azam weren’t named for the T20Is in New Zealand. Yet these latest decisions aren’t normal, not for Pakistan who have for long functioned best as fractious units that follow no plan, making it impossibly difficult to qualify for the knockouts before miraculously untangling those knots. That’s how they have made it to six T20 World Cup semi-finals in nine editions. Historically too, Pakistan’s reverence for some of their more celebrated cricketers has often outweighed the need for a more democratic performance review.

It was most visible in the late eighties when Pakistan tried to play to the egos of Imran Khan and Javed Miandad. Later, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis weren’t always on the same page, yet nothing much was done to bring order to the chaos. It resonated with the prevailing subcontinent sentiment that perhaps some cricketers could be considered above criticism. The most recent case in point was Kohli who despite not scoring a hundred for several years was never dropped from the India team in any format.

Runs or not, what unfailingly went in Kohli’s favour was the intent and fight he brought in every game. Azam had risen to the status of someone who wouldn’t be questioned in the dressing room but his public persona was far from inspiring. And once those runs started drying up regularly, the criticism became stronger. Former allrounder Mohammad Hafeez is one of them. “Calling them key players would be wrong and unfair. Azam and Rizwan are not Pakistan cricket’s key players at the moment. Key players are those who win matches for Pakistan,” he said on his YouTube channel. “If we look at the past year-and-a-half to two years, the players showing consistent performance are Salman Agha, Saeem Ayub and Hasan Nawaz. Why aren’t we talking about them?”

There has been some chatter, but not enough to suggest that Pakistan are on the cusp of a transition. In fact, since their Champions Trophy win in 2017, no batter has emerged from the shadow of Azam to stand out long enough. Fakhar Zaman has made another comeback, but he is 35. Fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah — he has been dropped from the Asia Cup squad — turned heads, but the highs have been few and far apart that Pakistan can’t hope to build on them.

All this has left Pakistan in a spot. The administration was almost always faltering but the lure of Pakistan was such that you wouldn’t know that watching them spinning magical cricket on the field. That doesn’t happen anymore. Even if there was a scandal, you could always depend on a few to pull the team out of the shambles. Azam last represented that hope. And now, he too is being shown the door with Rizwan. This is more like chaos, slowly engulfing the enigma that Pakistan cricket used to be.

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