Pakistan selector Aaqib Javed on Saturday dropped a bombshell, revealing that Babar Azam sustained an injury during the T20 World Cup 2026, which was the main reason he was kept out of the ODI squad for the three-match series against Bangladesh. He also revealed that the former ODI captain wanted to play in the domestic T20 tournament, but the injury prevented him from doing so. Javed also threw head coach Mike Hesson and the physio under the bus for seemingly not managing Babar during the tournament.
Not just Babar, Fakhar Zaman also faced an injury during the tournament, where Pakistan crashed out of the Super 8s stage, failing to make the semi-finals for the fourth ICC event in a row. However, during his media interaction, Aqib did not reveal the extent of Babar and Fakhar’s injuries.
“Babar Azam faced an injury during the T20 World Cup. When he came back from Sri Lanka, our doctors have a look at him. His injury is preventing him from playing in the National T20. He wanted to play, but the injury is not letting him do so,” Javed told reporters on Saturday.
“We are requesting the PCB. We have asked for an inquiry to be done. How can it happen that both Fakhar and Babar are unfit? After the World Cup, have we learned about the injuries to these two players? I just want to know whether the team management wasn’t looking after their injuries? Were they fully fit? We selectors should know about this, but when the players go for the World Cup, their health issues and injury concerns should be looked after by the head coach and the physio. We should know about it,” he added.
Ever since Babar was ignored for the ODI team, there has been a huge hue and cry in Pakistan. However, head coach Hesson and captain Shaheen Shah Afridi stated that the senior batter was rested, not dropped, as the management wanted to give youngsters a chance in the series against Bangladesh, which got underway earlier this week.
Aqib Javed downplays T20 World Cup performance
The chief Pakistan selector also downplayed Pakistan’s performance in the T20 World Cup, saying the side were eliminated just after one loss in the Super 8s. He said it’s not all gloom and doom, as Pakistan defeated England in a Test series in 2024 and then went on to win the ODI series against Australia.
Javed also downplayed the 61-run loss against India in the group stages, saying Pakistan’s record against the Men in Blue is already abysmal and several captains in the past have not been able to get the better of India.
“We won the Test series against England, which no one expected. In Australia, we won the ODI series after 27 years, and after that, we beat South Africa 3–0, something no one had done before. We also fought well in the Test series. In the 2025 Champions Trophy, there was an incident, but before that, the team’s performance was going fine,” said Javed.
“Even now, if you look at it, we have won series against South Africa, Australia and Sri Lanka. Not being able to beat India in the World Cup is not an excuse; the result there is 8–0, and even the world’s best captains have played from 1975 to 2026, so set that aside. In the Super 8 stage, one match was washed out by rain, and we lost one; nothing else happened. Against Sri Lanka, winning by that margin wasn’t achievable. We lost only one match. We were eliminated only on net run rate. Making it such a huge issue is too much. It’s a big issue, but not so big that our cricket is destroyed or that we can’t compete anywhere in the world,” he added.
