Imad Wasim questions decision of making Babar Azam open in ODIs
'You had one player who could play 40 overs and was doing great in ODIs,' says Imad
KARACHI: Former Pakistan all-rounder Imad Wasim voiced his discontent over the recent decision to promote star batter Babar Azam to the opening slot in ODIs, questioning the availability of openers in the country.
Babar, who is yet to score a century since his 151-run knock against Nepal in August 2023, is under a lot of scrutiny due to his inability to score big across formats.
The right-handed batter was promoted to open the innings alongside returning Fakhar Zaman for the recent tri-nation ODI series against New Zealand and South Africa, where he registered meagre scores of 10, 23 and 29.
Despite his inability to excel in the new role, the management backed Babar to open in the recently-concluded ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025, hoping the batter to play a big knock in the coming matches.
The former captain, however, failed to impress as an opener managed to score 64 and 23 in two matches of the eight-team tournament against New Zealand and India, respectively.
The decision drew criticism from cricket pundits including former national cricketers, with Imad Wasim being the latest addition, who questioned the availability of the openers while criticising the idea of making Babar Azam open in ODIs – a format, which the all-rounder believes was ‘great’ for the batter.
“Nobody achieved what Babar has in ODI cricket so far. You had one player who could play 40 overs and was doing great in ODIs. Why would you make him open all of a sudden?” Imad questioned.
“Don’t we have any other opener in the whole country? Sometimes, I fail to understand the logic behind some of our decisions. We are not moving in the right direction, I would say we are going backwards,” he added.
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