The King Still Has a Place in Green – Wasim Akram Solid Support for Babar Azam T20 return

Not many cricketers enjoy the reverence and adoration that Wasim Akram does. Famous for his astute cricketing intellect and eye for identifying talent, Akram has again hogged the limelight this time for his staunch endorsement of Babar Azam recall to Pakistan national T20 team. In Akram opinion, Babar’s experience, calmness, and batting elegance are still invaluable attributes in the shortest form of the game.

“If I were in charge, there would surely be a place for Babar Azam in the national T20 team,” Akram stated. His vote of confidence is not a matter of opinion telling a call to arms for selectors to rethink their approach to one of Pakistan’s most reliable performers.

Beyond Numbers: The Strike-Rate Debate

The most common of the criticisms directed at Babar in T20 cricket has been his strike rate. It is argued by some that contemporary T20 requires explosive beginnings and non-stop hitting, but Akram refutes it as a clichéd excuse.

Babar’s strike-rate problem is just an excuse,” Akram emphasized, referring to the right-hander’s capabilities of adjusting to different formats and game situations. Babar, according to the ex-Pakistan skipper, is a class player who would know how to up the pace when required by the team.

The Somerset sojourn in English county cricket is a case in point Babar adapted his pace seamlessly, operating sometimes as the anchoring role and sometimes as the aggressor according to the requirements of the match. For Akram, this kind of adaptability is the trademark of a world-class cricketer.

The Value of Experience in Pressure Moments

T20 cricket is usually decided in seconds narrow chases, dramatic powerplays, or tense final overs. Akram believes that this is where Babar’s steady head and elegant technique can prove decisive.

In pressure phases, you require a player who can stabilize the innings and take the rest of the batting line-up along,” he added. Babar is the ideal stabilizer in Pakistan’s batting line-up due to his game-reading skills as well as ability to rotate strike and then punish loose balls.

ODI Series: An Opportunity to Prove the Point

Babar Azam will be a part of the forthcoming ODI series against the West Indies—a stage that could help him re-legitimize his T20 credentials. Akram feels a good performance here could force the selectors to reintroduce him into the T20 side.

For Babar, this is more than another bilateral series. It’s a chance to remind the world of cricket and the decision-makers that class never goes out of fashion. A few dictatorial innings could shut out the skeptics and restore his dominance as one of the game’s finest batsmen in the modern era.

A Legend’s Endorsement Carries Weight

Wasim Akram’s words never come across as offhand. When one of the all-time great fast bowlers speaks in favor of a player’s comeback, it is heard across the cricketing world. His endorsement might sway public opinion and, eventually, selector’s choices.

Akram’s statement also captures a wider cricketing reality: in the cutthroat environment of international competition, experience, flexibility, and temperament can prove as important as unadulterated strike rate. And in all three of these fields, Babar Azam is a giant.

With Pakistan preparing to face big tournaments, the argument about team selection will only gain momentum. While youth and attacking batting techniques have their role, the combination of solidity and class offered by Babar might just be the decisive factor.

If the ODI series against the West Indies becomes a display of Babar’s hunger and adaptability, a Babar Azam T20 comeback might not only be possible it might be unavoidable. With the public support of Wasim Akram, the desire for his return has already started building momentum.

Cricket is a game of timing, form, and technique on and off the field. For Babar Azam, the timing of a T20 comeback could well be ideal. And if the words of Wasim Akram are anything to go by, Pakistan may be on the cusp of seeing its star batsman once again where he’s meant to be stabilizing the innings in the sport’s most thrilling incarnation.

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