Pakistan’s white ball coach Mike Hesson has made it clear that Babar Azam won’t be asked to keep wickets to get back into the T20I team. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Hesson said he had heard the rumors but Babar is only in the running for an opening spot.
Babar has never kept wickets in his career. Even though he’s playing ODIs, he’s been out of favour in T20s. Pakistan played a 5 match T20 series against New Zealand and 3 match series against Bangladesh without him. He’s also not in the team that will go to Bangladesh in July. Babar Azam is not being considered as a wicketkeeping option, that’s for sure, Hesson said before a week long camp in Karachi with the selected team, according to ESPNcricinfo. I don’t know where that idea came from but I’ve heard the talk. Babar is trying to get one of the opening spots. Right now Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub are in those positions so he’s competing with them.
He was removed from the team due to complaints about his strike rates in the format (129.22 overall after 128 T20Is) and his failure to move beyond old school run scoring in a fast paced game.
Babar is in the camp in Karachi along with his longtime teammate Mohammad Rizwan. Rizwan is also not going to Bangladesh which starts on July 20 and has faced similar criticism. The two series against the Tigers are Hesson’s first since taking the job. He wants to change the direction of the team with the help of new captain Salman Agha.
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Strike rate is important in T20 cricket but you have to pair that with a good number of runs, Hesson said. Our T20 ranking is low for a reason: our batting strike rates aren’t high enough. We did make some changes in the last series to play a more attacking brand of cricket and catch up with the rest of the world because that’s how the game is played now. Babar is one of them. I’m here to work with them and help them out. In the last month or so he’s made some good changes. It’s not just about going from 125 to 150; it’s about what you bring to the table because we’re often 30-40 runs short with the bat. We need to find a way to get those runs, he said.
Hesson is 50 and has worked with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings in the IPL and has had several coaching jobs since his early 20s.
