New Delhi: Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam faced criticism for not developing a strong bench during his five-year leadership stint. Discarded Test batter Umar Akmal who has been absent from the national squad since 2019 openly criticized Babar holding him solely responsible for the teams lack of depth. Babar led the team for almost five years across most formats yet he never focused on strengthening the bench due to his personal preferences Umar remarked during a TV interview. Akmal also revealed that when he was in good form and scoring runs in domestic cricket he approached Babar for a chance to make a comeback. I told Babar look give me a fair chance. You are performing well in the top order and I can be your finisher. Together we can win matches regularly which will benefit Pakistan cricket he said. However Umar mentioned that his request was ignored. He didn’t pay attention to me and throughout his five-year captaincy he never made an effort to build a strong bench. Only teams with good backup players perform consistently well across all formats he added. Umar who is Babar’s cousin played 16 Tests 121 ODIs and 84 T20Is for Pakistan before being dropped from the national team in 2019. Akmal is not the only one to accuse Babar of selfishness. Former Pakistani spinner Danish Kaneria has also criticized Babar Azam for prioritizing personal milestones. If we talk about Babar Azam he plays for himself. When under pressure he focuses on maintaining his stats and ICC ranking Kaneria told PTI Video. I have scored a fifty I have done it. But where is the intent to win the match for your team? Kaneria questioned.