Babar Azam has been labeled “stubborn” and “resistant to squad changes” by former Pakistan Mohammad Wasim. He also opened up on challenges he faced while dealing with Babar Azam during his selector tenure.
Babar Azam was captain of the Pakistan team across formats from 2019-2023. He stepped down as captain in all three formats in the aftermath of the 2023 World Cup, where Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-final.
However, just two months later, he accepted to become captain of the Pakistan white-ball team when Mohsin Naqvi took over as PCB chief.
Wasim, who was the head coach of the Pakistan men’s cricket team from December 2020 to December 2022, claimed that Babar was “very stubborn” and became irritated whenever the selection committee made changes to the squad, no matter how helpful to the team.
However, Wasim said that more often than not, he had to intervene to persuade Babar to accept the adjustments.
Mohammad Wasim rattles Babar Azam
“It was painful to make him understand the advantages of changes. He was very stubborn, and I overstepped my limitations to get him on board with certain calls. He was not ready to accept changes,” Wasim was quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Babar’s second spell as captain was unsuccessful, as Pakistan failed to advance beyond the group round of the T20 World Cup in 2024. They even lost to the United States. The former captain scored 122 runs in four matches at 40.66.
“A group of players are like cancer to Pakistan team”- Mohammad Wasim
The 46-year-old also mentioned four coaches warning about a few players being detrimental to the side’s progress.
“I will not take names, but four coaches said that a group of players is cancer to the team. If they are part of the squad, Pakistan can’t win. I tried to remove them from the team, but the team management recalled them,” he added.
Furthermore, Mohammad Wasim revealed that Imad Wasim, the Pakistani all-rounder hid his issues with his knee and played for Pakistan with a knee injury. The ex-chief selector said he had left out Imad Wasim to allow him to work on his fitness levels.
“Imad has a knee injury, but he has been hiding it for years. We always speak about Azam Khan’s fitness levels, but Imad is also suffering from the same problem. He was dropped from the side for that same reason, and I also dropped him during my tenure so that he could work on his fitness,” Mohammad Wasim said in the same interview.
Imad had previously announced his retirement, however, he revoked it before the T20 World Cup 2024 following his impressive performance in the PSL 2024.
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