Watch: "Not a match-winner?" — Tanveer Ahmed's Babar Azam take sparks heated debate

The former Pakistan player, Tanveer Ahmed, has sparked debate regarding the Test captain of the side, Babar Azam, as he reckoned that the star player has remained the biggest match-winner of the country for a long time in international cricket. His comments came despite Babar collecting only one century for the side across formats since 2024.  

Babar Azam went through a decent Test trip to England, where they lost the three-match series by a margin of 3-0. He smashed fifty during the second innings of the third game at Edgbaston, having scored two fifties during the second Test of the Caribbean trip.

What Tanveer Ahmed actually said about Babar Azam that split fans down the middle

Tanveer reckoned that despite his poor form in the last few years, Babar didn’t get the support and confidence from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) selectors, which many, even from outside the country, think of.

Watch Tanveer Ahmed's debate here- 

“Babar has scored a lot of runs. If he isn’t a match-winner, for example, then have our selectors given him confidence and support to pull him up, or should we have laughed at him? I am not saying this only, but the people from outside of our country are also saying the same about the treatment.” Tanveer Ahmed said in the video.

“Have we tried to bring new match-winners in the side and take the pressure off Babar? We didn’t do well in T20Is after Mike Hesson’s arrival, but the fault goes up to Babar. In the 70s, some of the players used to say that they should avoid newspapers. But in this social media era, they can’t save themselves.” He reckoned.

See Also: Senior players ‘reluctant' to play under Babar Azam, dressing room tensions rise

The former player also denied Babar's poor form and felt that the former legendary players would have struggled in the same way in this new social media age.

“I would like to see how the legendary players would have performed in the current era of social media. In this period, the players have gone through so many issues. What’s the poor performance of Babar, bro?” He added. 

The numbers behind the debate: How Babar Azam has really performed across formats since 2024

Since the beginning of 2024, Babar is Pakistan’s second-leading run-getter across the three formats of the game. He has smashed 2930 runs in 94 innings at an average of 34.47 and a strike rate of nearly 80, thanks to one century and 23 half-centuries, with his best score of an unbeaten 102-run knock.

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In the Test format, the Pakistan captain has collected 922 runs at 32.92 in 30 innings, bagging eight half-centuries at the best score of 88 runs. His century drought continues even for the last two years.

In the ODIs, the right-handed batter has collected 897 runs in 26 innings at an average of 39 with one fifty and one century in his name, while in T20Is, he has smacked 1111 runs at an average of 32.67 and a strike rate of 126.82 with nine fifties in his name.