"I'll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam"- James Anderson on the Pakistan captain finding no takers in The Hundred draft

Iconic England pacer James Anderson recently weighed in on Pakistan captain Babar Azam getting snubbed at The Hundred draft ahead of the 2023 season. Anderson stated that he would have spent the entire budget on Babar if it was up to him.

Babar failed to attract any buyers in the draft earlier this month, and remained unsold at a reserve price of £100,000. The same was the case in the preceding years as well.

Mohammed Rizwan, Keiron Pollard, and Andre Russell are some of the other notable names who did not find any takers in the draft. Welsh Fire signed Babar's teammates Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi.

When asked about the thought process behind the Hundred team's not showing interest in buying Babar in a conversation on BBC’s Tailender Podcast, Anderson said:

"I’ll pay double for him [Babar Azam]. I’ll spend the whole budget on Babar Azam. The only thing I can guess is that there might have been an availability issue, which is why he wasn’t picked."

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Babar Azam set to return for the New Zealand series after the break

Babar recently took a break after participating in Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023. Shadab Khan stood in as captain in his absence during the Afghanistan T20I series, which Pakistan lost by a 1-2 margin.

Babar will now return to the side and will be back at the helm for the home series against New Zealand. The Kiwis will play five T20Is and as many ODI matches on this tour.

PAK vs NZ schedule:

• 14 Apr - 1st T20I, Lahore
• 15 Apr – 2nd T20I, Lahore
• 17 Apr – 3rd T20I, Lahore
• 20 Apr – 4th T20I, Rawalpindi
• 24 Apr – 5th T20I, Rawalpindi
• 26 Apr – 1st ODI, Rawalpindi
• 30 Apr – 2nd ODI, Karachi
• 3 May – 3rd ODI, Karachi
• 5 May – 4th ODI, Karachi
• 7 May – 5th ODI, Karachi