Pak vs Ban: ‘Anybody can criticise and ridicule anyone’, Ramiz backs underfire Babar Azam amid poor form

sanjeev

khelja|30-08-2024

Shan Masood-led Pakistan lost the two-match Test series opener versus Bangladesh, in Rawalpindi, on Sunday (Aug 25). Following their shocking loss, the entire Pakistan team was trolled left, right and centre.
Many also criticised star batter Babar Azam as he returned with 0 and 22 in the series opener. Babar has not been in form for quite sometime, managing only 122 runs at a woeful strike-rate of 101.66 in the 2024 T20 World Cup. In addition, the right-hander is without a half-century in the last 14 Test innings, scoring 289 runs at an average of 20.64 with a high score of 41. With many slamming Babar, former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja has come in support of the batter. 'Seems entire nation doesn't have a problem with anything except Babar Azam's form' On his YouTube channel, Ramiz, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, said, "It seems the entire nation does not have a problem with anything except the form of Babar Azam. Unfortunately, what happens is when you lose a match and you have not scored runs and if you are Babar Azam, then you become a headline - How did we lose? What did he do? What was his contribution? And then this is the era of social media. Anybody can criticize and ridicule anyone, this should be discouraged as much as possible."  He added, "Cricket is in our blood but don't know for how long if we continue to lose matches like this in Test cricket. Fan following increases with wins and fans identify themselves with success stories. Babar Azam has had a famous success story. There is no doubt that he has been a big player in all three formats." Talking about the Pakistan-Bangladesh first Test, the Najmul Shanto-led Bangla Tigers opted to bowl first and had the hosts reeling at 16-3. Courtesy of Mohammed Rizwan's 171 and Saud Shakeel's 141, Pakistan recovered and declared at 448 for 6. In reply, the visitors were dismissed for 565 with Mushfiqur Rahim making an impressive 191. Other batters also contributed as Bangladesh took a healthy 117-run lead. In their second essay, Pakistan fell flat for 146 with Shakib Al Hasan and Mehedi Hasan sharing seven wickets in between. Chasing 30, the Bangla Tigers won by ten wickets to take an unassailable 1-0 lead.  
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