Srinagar: Pakistan all-rounder Faheem Ashraf has come into the defense of star Pakistan batter Babar Azam amid the criticism surrounding strikerate.
Babar Azam, who last featured for Pakistan in a T20I series against South Africa in December 2024, has been criticized for his strike rate over the years.
Former Pakistan captain has also experienced a dip in form, with his last T20 half-century coming against Ireland in 2024.
Faheem, who recently appeared on a Podcast, openly discussed his cricketing career. While addressing the question regarding Babar Azam, Faheem stated that due to social media, Babar is trying to adjust his game.
Now, social media and people are saying so much about Babar that he needs to change his game. For this reason, there are a lot of things that are not going in his favor.
“Earlier, Babar’s role was to build the innings, and the whole team was playing around him. If Fakhar Zaman played for a long time, then the match was ours. Now, our people have criticized Babar so much that he is trying to change his game, and for this reason, he is unable to perform in every match,” he said.
Speaking of his captaincy and match-winning abilities, he said, “Yes, we haven’t won any major event in his captaincy, but a player’s natural game should not change.”
“The way Babar plays his shots, if you demand that from me. That is wrong. Similarly, if you ask Babar to hit 6 sixes in an over. That’s wrong. If you ask Babar to stay out there and win the game. He will do it in his own way.” Faheem Ashraf concluded.