[Watch] Babar Azam issues a strong warning after criticising Pakistani greats for their strike rate.

Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan, may be a leader in the format given his nearly 1100-day reign at the top of the ICC T20I rankings chart before compatriot and opening partner Mohammad Rizwan overtook him earlier this month. However, the star batter has long faced criticism for his strike rate in the format. After the T20 World Cup roster was revealed last week, Pakistani legend Aaqib Javed delivered the ugliest comment. But Babar gave the former Pakistani bowler a strong warning on Monday, ending his criticism. The former World Cup-winning bowler had criticised the selectors’ decision to use Babar and Rizwan as the openers in an interview with Pak.TV despite their strike rate difficulties, which has led to a decline in their performance.

“Our only strategy is to stick with and rely on these two openers. They work well, but where? when your scores are between 150 and 160. We never really sought or hoped to bring Babar Azam out early when we play Karachi Kings and the total is 180 or more. As he pitches, the required run rate keeps increasing. However, when these two bat together, you get comparable performances from them,” he said. Mohammad Rizwan also performed well in the PSL.

Babar was asked about the same prior to the start of the England series at home on Tuesday.