"Every player's family should follow this policy" - Former Pakistan cricketer unhappy with Babar Azam's father's social media rant
Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was not pleased with Babar Azam's father's recent social media post. The erstwhile Men in Green skipper's father, Azam Siddique took a dig at the selectors after his son was dropped from the T20I team for the New Zealand tour.
He also urged ex-cricketers to be mindful with their words while criticizing Babar. Akmal, who is also Babar's cousin, opined that the families of the players should avoid making public statements.
Giving his own example, Akmal said on a Pakistani news channel ARY:
"Talking about myself, even I went through a tough time in my career. I understood everyone but told my father and brothers that it wasn't their job to give answers or speak on it as it was my matter. Every player's family should follow this policy."
After Pakistan's T20I squad announcement for the five-match series against New Zealand, Babar's father posted a note on Instagram. He mentioned that the batter was dropped despite being part of ICC's T20I team of the year for 2024.
He wrote:
"The boss is always right. Despite being part of the ICC’s T20 Team of the Year, he was dropped. It’s fine; he will perform in the National T20 and PSL. Insha Allah, he will make a comeback. That's the only respectable thing to do.
"They are very big former players. They are requested to keep their words right. If someone answers back, they may not be able to tolerate. You are the past."
Babar Azam was asked to play as an opener in the 2025 Champions Trophy after Saim Ayub was ruled out due to injury. Pakistan suffered a group-stage exit at the ICC event.
With 87 runs across two innings, he was the Men in Green's second-highest run-getter. While Babar didn't find a place in the T20I team for the New Zealand tour, he was included in the squad for the three ODIs.
"We didn’t know Babar Azam’s coach is his father" - Basit Ali reacts to Azam Siddique's social media post
In the aforementioned Instagram post, Azam Siddique had mentioned that he was Babar Azam's first coach and mentor. Reacting to the comments, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali sarcastically remarked that Siddique must have played a lot of cricket in that case.
Urging Siddique to work on the technical flaws in his son's batting, Basit said (quoted by Geosuper.tv):
"We didn’t know Babar Azam’s coach is his father [Azam Siddique]. That’s great! He must have played a lot of cricket, then. Not sure how many Test matches he played, but I request him to fix Babar’s technical flaws."
The five-match T20I series between Pakistan and New Zealand is set to commence on March 16. The opening game will be played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.