Matthew Hayden on Babar Azam: “He picks up the line and the length of the ball quicker than the average cricketer and that’s the mark of someone that’s a very fine player”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Ex-Australia batsman Matthew Hayden said Pakistan captain Babar Azam is better than the average player when it comes to picking up “the line and the length of the ball”.
Azam was scorching hot throughout the T20 World Cup as he broke the record for the most runs scored by a batsman in their maiden T20 World Cup appearance.
The 27-year-old amassed 303 runs in six games, which included four fifties, at an average of 60.60 and a strike-rate of 126.25.
“He picks up the line and the length of the ball quicker than the average cricketer and that’s the mark of someone that’s a very fine player,” Hayden was quoted as saying by the Pakistan Cricket Board’s website.
Pakistan are currently touring Bangladesh and won the first two T20 Internationals.
Azam scored 7 and 1 in those two games.
Pakistan will play one more T20 International on Monday before the two-Test series begins on November 26.
Pakistan’s Squad for Bangladesh T20 Series: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shoaib Malik, Usman Qadir
Pakistan squad for Bangladesh Test series: Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abid Ali, Azhar Ali, Bilal Asif, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Zahid Mahmood