"If you have someone better, bring him" - Salman Butt comes out in support of Babar Azam
Salman Butt recently opened up on supporting Pakistan's Babar Azam despite the batter's string of poor performances. He opined that Babar is the best batter in Pakistan at the moment and it was important to back in during this difficult period.
The former Men in Green skipper pointed out that Babar has consistently been in the top three of ICC rankings for batters in ODIs and T20Is. Suggesting that Pakistan do not have a better option than Babar, Butt said (from 23:20):
"Why is everyone asking me why I support Babar Azam? Has he scored 500 because of my support or have I asked people to vote for Babar? Is there any doubt that he has been the best player in Pakistan in the last four years? Pakistan don't play a lot of Test cricket, in white-ball cricket, he has been in the top three in both formats.
"He has scored the most runs and there's nobody else in the team near him. If you don't support the one who has been the standout performer and want him to be removed, what do you have? If you have someone better, bring him and make him play."
Butt suggested that while Babar has struggled to get going in red-ball cricket lately, the remaining batters have also failed to make a significant impact, adding (from 24:48):
"Yes, I admit Babar hasn't lived up to the expectations in Test cricket. But is that the real concern? Babar is not doing well, replace him, but what are the others doing? Babar didn't score, but what about the others?"
Babar Azam received widespread criticism following his back-to-back failures in Pakistan's recently concluded two-match home Test series. The 29-year-old scored just 64 runs across four innings.
Bangladesh completed a 2-0 whitewash over the hosts, claiming their first-ever Test series victory over Pakistan.
"When he was scoring a lot of runs, people started calling him things like king" - Salman Butt on Babar Azam
In the aforementioned video, Salman Butt highlighted that Babar Azam was given the moniker of king by Pakistani fans during his purple patch. The cricketer-turned-expert noted that he was the only one to say that Babar didn't deserve to be compared to the modern-day greats.
Emphasizing that he doesn't support Babar blindly and has even slammed his captaincy in the past, Butt added (from 33:43):
"Wasn't I the only one to talk about Babar's captaincy? When he was scoring a lot of runs, people started calling him things like king. However, I was one of those people who said that he was still behind the top players. When someone is scoring, everyone starts backing him. True backing is supporting someone in his downfall."
The Pakistani players will be in action in the upcoming white-ball domestic tournament, the Champions One-Day Cup. The 50-over competition kicks off on September 12.