Pakistan ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi has backed superstar batter Babar Azam, insisting that the experienced batter remains a major part of the side and has no reason to feel under pressure ahead of the tri-series opener against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Babar has been under scrutiny following his recent performances in the longest format. Under his leadership, Pakistan had a disappointing tour of England, where the team suffered a 3-0 series defeat. Babar’s performance was also not up to the mark, scoring 97 runs in four innings.
“First of all, there is no pressure on Babar. He is our main player. He is the backbone of our team. In our last ODI series, he performed really well. After the England series, he went back to domestic cricket and tried to score runs. But it is part of cricket,” Shaheen said at the press conference.
“Whenever he has played, he has scored runs for Pakistan,” Shaheen said.
Notably, after the England series, Babar returned to domestic cricket in a bid to regain his rhythm. However, he could not make any substantial contribution there, managing 58 runs across four innings. On the other hand, Babar has also been desperately waiting for a Test century in Test cricket, with his last hundred in the format coming in December 2022.