Former Pakistan player Saeed Ajmal has slammed the selectors for dropping star Pakistan players Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan from the T20I side for the upcoming white-ball tour of New Zealand. Following a poor 2025 Champions Trophy campaign that ended in a first-round exit, Pakistan brought major surprises with their announcement of the T20I and ODI squads for the New Zealand tour as well. While ace pacer Shaheen Afridi was dropped from the ODI side, Babar and Rizwan were axed from the T20I squad and Salman Agha was appointed as the captain as well.
Talking about this, Ajmal told Sportstar: “Look, the way you’ve removed them is wrong. It’s not like they are the only ones who haven’t scored, while others have. That’s not the case. Ideally, the selectors should sit down with Babar, and discuss about rest so that he can come back stronger.”
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He added, “Mark my words, they will again get them back into the T20I team. If you want to send a clear message to Babar and Rizwan stating that they won’t be considered going forward, that’s one thing. But you have dropped them from T20Is, but they are still part of ODIs. So, what do you do if they score runs in ODIs against New Zealand? You bring them back again to the T20I squad?”
However, Saeed Ajmal backed Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan’s skills in the T20 format, calling them match-winners despite a relatively low strike rate as well. They played major roles in Pakistan’s impressive runs in the 2021 and 2022 T20 World Cups, where they finished as semifinalists and runners-up as well.
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“Babar and Rizwan are great players. Their stats are as good as anyone, but the only difference is – they don’t bat aggressively, but they still score runs. Our guys have suddenly realised that in international cricket, everyone plays aggressively. Come on, what aggression are we talking about? If they are your proven match winners, you don’t need aggression,” said Saeed Ajmal. “Even legends like Virat often pace their innings slowly before attacking, that’s his style. We need to allow our players to play their natural game, and ensure that they are mentally in the right space.”
