Former Test cricketer Tanveer Ahmed on Thursday acknowledged the batting prowess of Babar Azam, hoping that the 29-year-old batter will regain his form.
Expressing his thoughts on his YouTube channel, Ahmed recalled Pakistan's shortcomings against Bangladesh in the first red-ball outing of the season, saying, "Nobody was expecting such a substandard performance from Pakistan against a team like Bangladesh.".
"As an experience, we had made big mistakes against Bangladesh. Mir Hamza and Abrar have been brought back after blunder.
He was of the view that Mohammed Ali might be dropped from the team and Abrar Ahmed will replace the former.
Speaking about Pakistan fast bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tanveer said: "None of the first bowlers had performed well, so why Shaheen Shah Afridi was dropped?"
"Is Shaheen Shah Afridi having been dropped from the team due to the workload or attitude? I am not taking Shaheen's side, but if Shaheen feels he was dropped from the team due to the attitude, then Shaheen merely needs to focus on playing cricket, performance and ignore other things."
"I personally feel that now the player with the attitude problem might be dropped from the team. The thing that has happened to Shaheen should also happen to everybody, including Babar Azam. If Babar does not perform well against Bangladesh and England in the forthcoming series, he should be dropped from the team then," Ahmed said.
"All the big players should be dropped and replaced by the youngsters if they do not perform well," he added.
Talking about the second Test match, slated to happen today (August 30), Ahmed stated: "There is no doubt about that Pakistan will start the proceedings in the second Test match with great pressure, because they have lost the first match. But I still believe that Pakistan is a far better side than Bangladesh."
Expressing his thoughts on the drop of Azam's rankings in the red-ball cricket, Tanveer said: "When he was playing in the top order, so many people were causing uproar over Babar's rankings. Now those same people are talking about Babar's ranking. So why are you talking about the ranking now?"
"There is no need to talk about Babar's ranking. You guys need to stay silent," he added.
Acknowledging Azam's batting prowess, Ahmed said: "I still believe that Babar Azam is still that sort of the player who will uplift again as his batting is good.
"One good innings will definitely boost the confidence of Babar Azam," said Ahmed.
Recalling Babar Azam's performance in the 2023 World Cup, Ahmed said: "The bowlers were not removing him, but it is because of his own mistakes that he [Babar Azam] was getting out. This cycle unfortunately continues with Babar Azam."
"However, hopefully Babar Azam will regain his form as the people demand solid performances from him."
