Ashley Noffke: “You can assume he’s a threat – he definitely is. His career stats speak for themselves. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things he needs to improve on to become the superstar he wants to be”
Image take by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan bowling coach Ashley Noffke knows left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi is definite a threat when he bowls, but made it clear that he still has room for improvement.
Basit Ali: “Even a club cricketer will tell you that in T20s, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf – they are all better players in the format than Babar! Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub are also better T20 players than Babar”
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Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali believes Shadab Khan, Usman Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub are all better T20 players than Babar Azam.
Ahmed Shehzad: “Fakhar Zaman has been moved down in the batting order because he has not performed in the top order in T20s”
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Pakistan cricketer Ahmed Shehzad believes Fakhar Zaman was demoted down the batting order due to a lack of consistent performances at the top.
Salman Ali Agha: “If senior players like Fakhar or Babar don’t fit into that combination, we won’t play them. We will play only those who are best for the team”
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Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has made it clear that batsmen like Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman are not immune from being dropped from the playing XI if they “don’t fit into that combination”.
Ricky Ponting: “Babar needs to get going early. He needs boundaries in his first few balls, otherwise the momentum of the game shifts every time he comes in. To me, it looks like he’s lost a bit of his power and ball-striking ability”
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Legendary Australia captain Ricky Ponting admitted it appears as if Pakistan batsman Babar Azam has “lost a bit of his power and ball-striking ability” in T20Is.
Usman Khawaja: “There aren’t many things worse than being called a ‘chucker’ in cricket. The stigma is real. The man is just doing his best and [has] been cleared twice”
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Former Australia opener Usman Khawaja has come to the defence of Pakistan spinner Usman Tariq, saying there is almost nothing worse than being called a chucker.
Rashid Latif: “Babar Azam should consider stepping away from Pakistan’s T20I side”
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Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has suggested that Babar Azam should consider stepping away from the T20I side.
Mohammad Nawaz: “It was not in my plan, but when I was picked in the Pakistan team, I didn’t think I would perform in this way. I didn’t predict that the rest of my year would go like this, with so many outstanding performances”
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Pakistan spinner Mohammad Nawaz has admitted he did not expect to perform as well as he has since earning a recall to the national side.
Salman Ali Agha: “Fakhar has been performing for Pakistan for the last 10 years. If he isn’t scoring right now, that’s okay – we will back him”
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Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha has confirmed that top order batsman will continue to be backed even if he fails to score runs in the short term.
Kamran Akmal: “What hurts is that the new generation seems focused on personal milestones instead of playing for the team. Winning or losing is part of cricket – but where is the fight, the pride of representing Pakistan”
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Former wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal has lashed out at the current generation of Pakistan players, claiming they are more focused on personal milestones than team success.
