Currently, Pakistan captain Babar Azam is one of the most consistent batters in international cricket. The fact that he is currently atop the ICC Men’s ODI rankings, third in T20Is, and fifth in Tests demonstrates his recent prowess as a batter. Under his stewardship, the team has also reached the finals of the 2022 Asia Cup and the 2022 T20 World Cup and has been consistently successful.
Former Pakistan international Saeed Ajmal, speaking about the 28-year-old, stated that he always desired a batsman like Babar during his playing days because he could occupy the crease and make the bowler’s work difficult. The national team requires three or more players like Babar Azam to strengthen the squad in the near future, he added.
“For as long as I’ve played cricket, I’ve longed for a batsman like Babar Azam who could remain on the crease and score runs patiently, giving bowlers a slight edge or something to defend, let alone bowl aggressively. At that time, however, our bowlers were quite feeble. Recently, when batting has been dominant, bowling has been weak. In an interview with Cricket Pakistan, Ajmal stated, “Therefore, I mentioned earlier that we need two or three more players like Babar Azam, which was not intended as a criticism but rather to imply that it will only strengthen the team.”
Since Babar Azam is performing well in all three formats of the game, the 45-year-old added that supporters should support the cricketer instead of constantly criticizing him.
“If one of your players is ranked first in T20Is, ODIs, and the top ten in Tests, and can score 5000 runs in the shortest amount of time while amassing the most runs, then he holds all the relevant records.” Then why would we not support him and why should we not?” Ajmal noted.
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