Babar Azam to be Pakistan’s wicketkeeper? New coach spills beans on new role with “not sure” remark

New Pakistan coach Mike Hesson has addressed the possibility of Babar Azam becoming the new wicketkeeper

Pakistan cricket team isn’t considering Babar Azam as an option for wicketkeeper, new coach Mike Hesson confirmed. The report comes after the former Pakistan captain was once again left out from the T20I squad along with Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi. Babar has under performed across formats since midway 2023 and has struggled across continents, leagues.

Babar Azam won’t be Pakistan’s wicketkeeper

As per ESPN CricInfo, Hesson dismissed reports of Babar being considered as a choice for keeping wickets. The new Pakistan coach claimed that Azam was competing for an opening spot, and is competing with Fakhar Zaman and Saim Ayub.

“Firstly, Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option, no. Not sure where that came from, but I have heard that speculation. Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. But obviously, we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment, so he’s competing for that,” Hesson said.

Hesson’s plan to get Babar back on track

The last time Babar has scored a century was in early 2023. Since then, his form across formats has been miserable. He was stripped off captaincy primarily and then was left out of the Test and T20I team. However, Hesson backs Babar to improve his technique.

“Babar is one of many who have the ability to make those improvements. And I’m here to work with them and help them. In the last month or so, he’s made some really good changes. It’s not just a matter of going from 125 to 150, it’s a matter of increasing what you can offer because we’re no doubt often 30-40 runs short with the bat. So, we need to find a way of getting that,” Hesson added.