Dinesh Karthik: “He has been phenomenal in all three formats of the game”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India power-hitter Dinesh Karthik acknowledged that Pakistan captain Babar Azam has been a force to be reckoned with in all three formats.
Azam is currently the top-ranked batsman in ODIs and T20 Internationals, and sits in fourth place on the Test standings.
In the three-Test series against Australia, he scored 390 runs, which included a career-best 196 and two fifties, at an average of 78.
He then went on to make 276 runs in the three-match ODI series, which included two centuries and a fifty, at an average of 138.
As for the one-off T20 International, he walloped 66 off 46 deliveries, which included six boundaries and two sixes.
Most recently, he featured in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and continued his run of fine form by scoring 181 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 60.33.
“He has been phenomenal in all three formats of the game,” Karthik told The ICC Review.
Azam will now captain Pakistan in their two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be played in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka Tests: Babar Azam (captain), Mohammad Rizwan (vice-captain, wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Faheem Ashraf, Fawad Alam, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wicketkeeper), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah
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