"I don’t know who convinced him" - Former Pakistan captain's shocking statement on Babar Azam's batting position in 2025 Champions Trophy

Former Pakistan captain and coach Intikhab Alam has lambasted the team management for altering Babar Azam's position in the batting order. The ace batter was moved to the top of the order ahead of the 2025 Champions Trophy following Saim Ayub's injury and Abdullah Shafique's poor run of form.

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Babar Azam never quite looked settled in his newfound position, and failed to impress in the recent string of games. Playing as an opening batter in the tri-series and Champions Trophy 2025 at home, he could only score 149 runs in five matches an average of 29.8. He recorded one fifty, which came off 81 deliveries in the high-pressure run chase against New Zealand in the tournament opener in Karachi.

Babar Azam was lambasted for his approach as Pakistan lost the contest by 60 runs to begin their campaign on a poor note. He looked in good touch in the high-profile clash against India, but could not convert his start after being dismissed by Hardik Pandya.

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Intikhab Alam opined that Babar Azam's position at No.3 should have remained untouched, and also suggested that the player should have protested the change in the batting order.

“Why on earth will you send him to No. 1? He’s not an opener. No. 3 is the backbone of a batting line-up and your best bet should come in that position, and he should have been told by the coaches to stay there for the entire duration and get a century. If he got you a hundred and someone else chipped in with 50 or 60-odd, you’d have nearly 300 runs on the board and that’s how you should be playing,” Alam said in an interview with Sportstar.

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“Even Babar should have refused to change his batting position. I don’t know who convinced him to open the innings. It was a bad decision," he added.

Babar Azam had played as an opener for a couple of matches in his early days in international cricket. However, he had eventually cemented the No.3 spot, providing solidity by playing the anchor role for the side on many occasions.

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"It’s important to realise that there’s always something wrong when things are not going your way" - Intikhab Alam on Babar Azam

Irrespective of the batting position, Babar Azam's numbers have been far from flattering. The former skipper has built up starts on almost every occasion in the recent past, but has only gone on to convert a few of them into something meaningful. With his strike rate also being a concern at times apart from runs, there are serious questions raised about how Pakistan can play new-age cricket.

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"You need to bowl just slightly outside the off-stump because if anything is pitching on the middle-stump or coming in to him, he will hit you through mid-on or squarish mid-on. It does not matter how good you are, it’s important to realise that there’s always something wrong when things are not going your way," Alam said in the aforementioned interview.

Pakistan's top-order crisis had worsened during the Champions Trophy after Fakhar Zaman was injured in the opening match. Imam-ul-Haq was named as his replacement, but failed to impress in the must-win match against India.

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