Former Pakistan wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal expressed his discontent over Babar Azam’s father’s recent social media remarks. Azam Siddique, father of the former Pakistan captain, criticized the selectors after Babar was left out of the T20I squad for the New Zealand tour.
He also called on former cricketers to be cautious with their words when discussing Babar. Akmal, who is also Babar’s cousin, believes that players’ families should refrain from making public statements. Citing his own experience, Akmal stated on Pakistani news channel ARY:
“Talking about myself, even I went through a tough time in my career. I understood everyone but told my father and brothers that it wasn’t their job to give answers or speak on it as it was my matter. Every player’s family should follow this policy.”
Kamran Akmal on Babar Azam father’s Instagram post 🇵🇰🥶
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) March 7, 2025
Following the announcement of Pakistan’s T20I squad for the five-match series against New Zealand, Babar Azam’s father shared a note on Instagram. He pointed out that Babar was omitted from the squad despite being included in the ICC’s T20I Team of the Year for 2024.
He further wrote: “The boss is always right. Despite being part of the ICC’s T20 Team of the Year, he was dropped. It’s fine; he will perform in the National T20 and PSL. Insha Allah, he will make a comeback. That’s the only respectable thing to do.”
“They are very big former players. They are requested to keep their words right. If someone answers back, they may not be able to tolerate. You are the past.”
“Didn’t Know Babar Azam’s Father Was His Coach” – Basit Ali on Azam Siddique’s Post
In his Instagram post, Azam Siddique claimed to be Babar Azam‘s first coach and mentor. Responding to this, former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali sarcastically suggested that Siddique must have played a significant amount of cricket.
Basit further urged Siddique to focus on correcting the technical flaws in Babar’s batting, stating (as quoted by ‘Geosuper.tv’):
“We didn’t know Babar Azam’s coach is his father [Azam Siddique]. That’s great! He must have played a lot of cricket, then. Not sure how many Test matches he played, but I request him to fix Babar’s technical flaws.”
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