Babar Azam: “My innings in South Africa against Dale Steyn gave me great pleasure and confidence that I can get into the Test match zone”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Babar Azam has revealed that he enjoyed battling against South Africa pace maestro Dale Steyn in Test cricket.

Steyn retired from the longest format in August and finished as South Africa’s highest wicket-taker in Test history.

Azam had decent success in the series, which took place from December 2018 to January 2019, as he accumulated 221 runs, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 36.83.

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“Test cricket was also quite rewarding for me this year. For the past two years, I wasn’t quite living up to my own and cricket fans’ expectations in the longest format,” Azam was quoted as saying by PakPassion. “This year, I worked on improving the mistakes I made in the format and was able to overcome some of them which helped me make some runs. The more you play the longer format, the more you understand the nuances of the game and find your way.

“My innings in South Africa against Dale Steyn gave me great pleasure and confidence that I can get into the Test match zone. I also learned how to convert 60s and 70s into 100s, and then my century in Australia gave me confidence that I can make big runs in the format.”

Babar Azam’s best innings?

Azam admitted that his knock of 104 in the first Test against Australia in Brisbane was his favourite innings in Test cricket in 2019.

“When you score in places like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand against formidable bowling attacks, you get self-belief and confidence. I rate the century against Australia as my best innings of the year in Test format,” he said.

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