Babar Azam and Virat Kohli (Agency Image) The decision to move Babar Azam up to No.4 during the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup created a lot of debate in Pakistan and the experiment ultimately failed. The former Pakistan captain endured a tough campaign as he struggled to get up to speed in the middle order during the twenty-a-side tournament. As the competition progressed, the situation worsened. Babar was not sent in to bat in Pakistan’s must-win group stage encounter against Namibia. Later, he was also left out of the Super 8 match against Sri Lanka, a match where the Green Shirts needed to secure a win by at least 65 runs to keep their semi-final hopes alive.
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Former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali has now criticized how the situation was handled, saying Babar should have strongly opposed the decision to move him down the order. According to Basit, the batsman should have challenged head coach Mike Hesson rather than accept the role. On ‘Game Plan’, Basit also cited Virat Kohli as an example, talking about how top players sometimes take strong stands. “Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman have no voice. How come they agreed to bat in the middle order?” said Basit on ‘Game Plan’. “I have just one example. Virat Kohli wasn’t the captain, he said, ‘Okay, bye’. Virat Kohli. He retired; he was supposed to be the captain of the England series. He was told you’re not in our scheme of things as far as captaincy is concerned. He said, ‘Okay, dad, bye.’ He has no need for money. Babar should not have taken the decision to bat at No.4. If I were his close aide, I would tell him to decline. You just threw him under the bus,” he added. Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket in May last year. However, it has not been officially confirmed that the decision was linked to captaincy matters. After the retirement of Rohit Sharma and Kohli, Shubman Gill was appointed as India’s Test captain. Under his leadership, India lifted the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England. Meanwhile, former Pakistan batsman Kamran Akmal disagreed with Basit’s view and claimed that players rarely challenge the team management especially when they are struggling for form. “No player dares to go against the team management. I have just seen Younis Khan adamantly insisting on his position. As a player, you just cannot say that. You will be sidelined if you say such things,” Akmal said. “When there is no form, no player says such things. Before the Champions Trophy, his form was not there. He retired from the captaincy. Big players even agree to such things. Form is very important. When there is no form, a batsman would even agree to bat at No.8,” he added.
