Babar Azam: “Mickey really supported me. He gave me confidence. He rated me highly even when I was very much a newcomer. He backed me all the time. The best thing about him was he had great trust in my abilities”

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam gave former head coach Mickey Arthur top marks as he “really supported me”.

Azam noted that Arthur always believed in him and “rated me highly” when he first broke into the national team.

In addition to this, the 25-year-old pointed out that Arthur had “great trust in my abilities” and “backed me all the time”.

Arthur was Pakistan’s head coach for three years before being let go after the 2019 World Cup. He has since gone on to become Sri Lanka’s head coach.

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“Mickey really supported me. He gave me confidence. He rated me highly even when I was very much a newcomer. He backed me all the time. The best thing about him was he had great trust in my abilities,” he said to News International as quoted by the ICC website.

While heaping praise on Arthur, Azam made it clear that Misbah-ul-Haq, who is currently Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector, has just as much faith and trust in him.

“I must add that Misbah bhai is no different. He really backs me and has confidence in me. It really helps when your coach trusts you,” Azam added.

Azam and the rest of the Pakistan team are currently in England, where they they are preparing for the upcoming Test and T20 series.

After spending 14 days in isolation in Worcester, the Pakistan team arrived in Derby on Monday, where they will continue preparing for the England series.

They will travel to Manchester on August 1 prior to the start of the Test series.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and three T20 Internationals against England, with the first Test starting on August 5 and the T20 series beginning on August 28.

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