Shahid Afridi: “Babar must come out of this average mindset and think big”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Hard-hitting all-rounder Shahid Afridi has urged Pakistan captain Babar Azam to stop having an “average mindset”.
His advice comes after Azam wanted to set a target of around 160 for Bangladesh to chase in their recent T20 tri-series clash.
Afridi was less than impressed with Azam’s approach, saying he needs to “think big”.
The former skipper, who is nicknamed ‘Boom Boom’, also questioned what the 28-year-old would want stronger teams to chase down if the target for Bangladesh was 160.
“Babar must come out of this average mindset and think big,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“If scoring 160 runs for the target against Bangladesh was his ‘big intent’ then what is he going to do against stronger teams.”
In the T20 tri-series against New Zealand and Bangladesh, which the men in green won, Azam amassed 192 runs in five matches, which included two fifties, at an average of 48 and a strike-rate of 123.87.
He is now captaining Pakistan in the 2022 T20 World Cup.
Pakistan began their campaign with a four-wicket loss to India off the last ball of the match.
They will now be looking to secure a win when they go up against Zimbabwe on Thursday in Perth.
Pakistan’s 2022 T20 World Cup squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood
Reserves: Mohammad Haris, Shahnawaz Dahani and Usman Qadir
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