Babar Azam, the newly appointed skipper of Pakistan cricket team in the white-ball cricket, is one of the top-ranked T20I batsmen in the current ICC rankings. The young batsman averages 50-72 in the shortest format, having amassed 1471 runs in 38 T20Is at a strike rate of 128.13.
Recently, the former England skipper Nasser Hussain showered praises on Babar Azam, saying that he was in the league of best batsmen in world cricket.
In an interaction, Nasser Hussain said Babar Azam was ‘world-class’ and explained how it’s not just his stats that are impressive. He said:
“Pakistan have a world class batsman in Babar Azam,” Hussain told Sky Sports. “It’s not only his stats but the way he gets them, how elegant a player he is. He plays through that offside beautifully, a lovely driver of the ball, good off the front foot and the back foot. He’s a very, very watchable young man, he really is. Outstanding player.”
He added:
“I think for Pakistan to win this series, Babar Azam needs to have a good series. If he has a good series, it will be very, very watchable. He is a gun player.”
Further, Hussain explained how it’s a matter of shame that Babar Azam doesn’t get the attention that the Fab Four — Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root gets. As per Hussain, it’s Fab Five and Babar Azam is including in that. He said:
“They keep going on about the fab four, it’s the fab five and Babar Azam is in that. I’ve been trying to figure out why he has got better recently in Test cricket,” Hussain explained. “I think he is playing pace a lot better and he is playing the ball later.”
He added:
“High class. People get runs but also you’ve got to remember that you’re trying to entertain people and when this lad bats and gets hundreds as he has been, he is so, so watchable.
“He’s such a good player, he’s in good nick. He did it in white-ball cricket at the start of his career but couldn’t quite sort out Test cricket but we showed the stats earlier and since 2018 he’s been the best Test match player. I think he’s only failed once in that period, one single-figure score.”
