Home
For the third time in his illustrious ODI career, Babar Azam will open the innings for Pakistan in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy. After their young opening batter Saim Ayub was injured during the Test series against South Africa, the selectors asked the former captain of Pakistan to accept the task, which he did.
Sachin Tendulkar inspires PCB's decision
The selectors used Sachin Tendulkar, who switched from middle-order to opener after 69 ODIs in his career, as an example for Babar. In 1994, Sachin scored 82 runs off just 49 balls in his debut as an opener against New Zealand in Auckland. Sachin scored the first-ever double-century in the ODI format and retired as arguably the greatest batter in history.
"A day after Saim got injured it became clear that he would be out of cricket for at least two months making him an unlikely starter for the Champions Trophy," a reliable PCB source told PTI.
He went on to say that after Saim Ayub's position was known, the selectors Azhar Ali and Aaqib Javed asked Babar if he was prepared to open. It is interesting to note that this decision applies to both the Champions Trophy and the 50-over format after that. Interestingly, Babar only opened twice in ODIs, scoring 62* and 4 runs against England in 2015.
"The selectors told Babar they felt he could also emulate what Tendulkar had done as an opener as he had already opened a lot in T20 cricket. Babar after giving it due thought agreed to the challenge," the source further added.
Furthermore, the selectors strengthened their middle-order and all-round alternatives by reinstating Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, and Usman Khan while keeping Saud Shakeel as a backup in the squad because they were unwilling to rely on Imam-ul-Haq or any other opener.
ADVERTISEMENT
