Dropped from Pakistan’s recent T20I series against Bangladesh, out of favour star batter Babar Azam vented his frustration on fans in Lahore on Saturday night.
The 30-year-old Babar has been enduring a tough time in his career since the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. After Pakistan crashed out of the event in the first round, Babar was forced to resign from captaincy of all three formats.
But he was re-appointed skipper for the white-ball format in May last year but it lasted a few months after Pakistan crashed out of the Twenty20 World Cup losing to India, but the bigger shock was a defeat against minnows United States. Babar’s captaincy was criticized for lack of spirit and favouring friends in selection.
He lost his place in the Test side after Pakistan lost a Test against England in Multan before he was dropped from the T20I side for the Zimbabwe and New Zealand series.
Under new head coach Mike Hesson, Pakistan decided to use new players in the Bangladesh series with both Rizwan and Babar dropped and Shaheen Shah rested. Pakistan leads the three-match series 2-0 with new players performing well.
Sources said Babar was on his way to dine with the friends he encountered some fans who initially wanted a picture with him, but Babar showed no willingness. As a retaliation some fans passed derogatory remarks which Babar took a stock off and exchanged words. When a fan tried to stop him, Babar shrugged his hand and went away.
Babar’s father Siddiq Azam also had exchanged of words with his nephew Kamran Akmal. Siddiq, without naming Karman, blamed former players for trying to malign his son’s name. Kamran replied in a firm way, asking Siddiq to draw a line.
Siddiq and Kamran’s father are brothers but the families do net meet each other for several years. Babar once blamed Umar Akmal for not giving him his shoes in his initial years as a budding player.
