![Naqvi indirectly calls Babar Azam selfish [Source: AFP]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1781417819019_NaqviindirectlycallsBabarAzamselfish.jpg?type=hq)
Naqvi indirectly calls Babar Azam selfish [Source: AFP]
PCB Chairman, Mohsin Naqvi, is furious with the Pakistan team and rightly so. Once a dominant Asian force in cricket, the standards of Pakistan cricket have fallen as the team lacks the cutting-edge to perform across formats.
Since the 2023 50-overs World Cup, Pakistan has failed to reach the semifinals of an ICC event, and in the T20 World Cup 2024 and the Champions Trophy 2025, the Men in Green crashed out in the group stage.
The situation remains the same in red-ball cricket, as the side languishes in the WTC points table, and have failed to deliver the goods, even in home Test matches. As a result of the poor performances, Chairman Mohsin Naqvi is set to take drastic measures to improve the standards of Pakistan cricket.
The Chairman has also taken digs at Pakistan players, seemingly questioning their attitude towards the game.
Did Mohsin Naqvi slam Babar Azam for "selfish" batting approach?
On Saturday, Naqvi came hard on Pakistan players for their poor falling standards in international cricket. The senior players have failed on the big stage, and it seems the Chairman is unhappy with their performances.
The PCB Chairman didn’t name anyone when targeting the Pakistan players, but it seemed he questioned Babar Azam’s attitude and his lack of “important runs” on the big stage for Pakistan cricket.
"Some players play for themselves rather than for the country & such attitudes have harmed the team's progress," Naqvi said during a media interaction in Pakistan.
Babar Azam has been criticised for slow and selfish batting
There is no doubt that Babar Azam has been Pakistan’s best player in the last 10 years. He has scored truckloads of runs for the side and has countless hundreds to his name. However, scoring runs is one thing, and accumulating them in important games (World Cups) is another.
Often, Babar has been criticised for his sluggish batting, and his strike rate across formats has come under scrutiny. Babar’s ODI career strike rate has been 86, but in the last two years, it has dropped to 76, and 77, respectively.
Similarly, in the T20Is, he has amassed runs, and is the leading run-getter in T20I history, but those runs have come at a strike rate of just 128.02, and it has done more harm than good for Pakistan cricket.
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One of his most infamous sluggish knocks came during the Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand, when the Pakistan batter scored 64 runs in a 321-run chase, but those runs came in 90 balls, with a strike rate of 71.
As a result, he gets criticised, and rightly so, for his sedate batting approach, and Naqvi has probably hinted at his exclusion.
Naqvi hints at Babar Azam, and senior players' exclusion
Naqvi, on Saturday, introduced a revamped central contract system with separate categories for Test, ODI, T20I, and Emerging players. This has been introduced so that players go to the domestic circuit, perform there before getting a national call-up.
The same message has been passed to all the senior Pakistan players, including Babar and Shaheen Afridi. Earlier, the big names hardly played first-class cricket and were still getting a central contract. Now, that thing has been removed, as Naqvi hints at major changes.
With his latest statement on players’ selfishness, Naqvi has indirectly hinted that those players who play for their personal milestones, rather than for the team, will be excluded, and Babar could be the first one shown the exit door.
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