Pakistan cricket team’s white-ball skipper, Babar Azam has been at the centre of the tremendous amount of criticism and scrutiny the team’s been facing since their disastrous campaign in both the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 which was held in India and the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 hosted by the USA and the West Indies.
Pakistan were knocked out in both competitions before reaching the knockouts. In the ODI World Cup, they finished fifth, narrowly missing out on the semi-finals while they finished third in their group at the T20 World Cup after losing to hosts USA and arch-rivals India in their opening two games.
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Babar failed to impress with his leadership or the bat in either of the competitions, resulting in heavy backlash from both fans as well as cricketing legends and pundits.
| Competitions | Matches | Runs | Average | SR | HS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ODI World Cup 2023 | 9 | 320 | 40.00 | 82.90 | 74 |
| T20 World Cup 2024 | 4 | 122 | 40.70 | 101.7 | 44 |
However, a former Pakistani cricketer has come to Babar’s aid, continuing to show confidence in the 29-year-old with a bold statement. Basit Ali, who featured for Pakistan in both Tests and ODIs during the 1990s has backed Babar for Pakistan’s upcoming series in red-ball cricket against Bangladesh.
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What did Basit Ali say about Babar Azam?
Basit has made a bold claim while talking on his own YouTube channel, stating that he believes Babar will score five centuries in the upcoming five months. He explained that the player won’t have to face the pressure of captaincy since Shan Masood will be leading the team in the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.
Babar Azam will score five centuries in the coming five months. Babar has the best chance to leave the top batters behind, whether it is Kane Williamson or Joe Root. It is a very easy chance. However, now that the pressure of captaincy is off from him, he should forget about the captaincy. He should remove the thought of captaincy from his mind and just focus on scoring runs.
Basit has even had some personal advice for the Pakistani batter. Basit advised the batter to start skipping ropes ahead of the Bangladesh series since it would help him with quick feet movement. He even revealed that he was advised the same by legendary cricketer Zaheer Abbas. Abbas was nicknamed as the Asian Bradman for his ferocious batting style.
| Matches | Innings | Runs | Average | HS | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | 94 | 3898 | 45.85 | 196 | 54.86 |
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When is the Pakistan vs Bangladesh Test series?
Pakistan will be hosting Bangladesh in a two-match Test series starting August 21. The second Test is scheduled to start on August 30.
| Fixture | Date | venue |
|---|---|---|
| Pak vs Ban 1st Test | Aug 21-25 | Rawalpindi |
| Pak vs Ban 2nd Test | Aug 30 - Sept 3 | Karachi |