Dinesh Karthik: “He is a very special player”
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India batsman Dinesh Karthik said Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a “very special player”.
His comments come ahead of Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka, where Azam will be looking to maintain his form from the series against Australia and the West Indies.
In the three Tests he played against the Baggy Greens, he accumulated 390 runs, which included a career-best knock of 196 and two fifties, at an average of 78.
He then amassed 276 runs in three ODIs, which included two centuries and a fifty, at an average of 138.
Azam continued to dominate in the one-off T20 International as he smoked 66 off 46 balls, which included six boundaries and two sixes.
As for the recent three-match ODI series against the West Indies, the 27-year-old made 181 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 60.33.
“He is a very special player,” Karthik told The ICC Review.
Pakistan’s tour of Sri Lanka will comprise of two Tests in Galle and Colombo from July 16 to 28.
Pakistan squad for Sri Lanka Tests:Â 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