Herschelle Gibbs: “If Babar adds one or two more attacking options to his game his strike rate will improve and be even more effective”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan captain Babar Azam needs to add one or two more attacking shots to his arsenal in order to be more effective, former South Africa batsman Herschelle Gibbs said.
In addition to having more scoring options, it will also help boost his strike-rate, especially in T20Is.
Azam has been criticised for his low strike-rate in the shortest format, even though he is one of Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorers.
People feel that he is using up too many deliveries to make his runs, which ends up putting a lot of pressure on the other batsmen, especially those in the middle order, to score quickly when they come in.
Gibbs noted that one of the solutions to this problem is for Azam to introduce more aggressive shots into his game.
“If Babar adds one or two more attacking options to his game his strike rate will improve and be even more effective,” he said on Twitter.
The 28-year-old was in great form in Pakistan’s Test series against England as he scored 348 runs, which included a century and three fifties, at an average of 58. Unfortunately, Pakistan ended up losing 3-0.
They are now aiming to get back to winning ways in their two-Test series against New Zealand.
Azam made his presence felt with the bat in the first innings as he struck a magnificent 161, which came off 280 balls and included 15 boundaries and a six.
After the two-Test series, Pakistan and New Zealand will play three ODIs.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand Test Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Nauman Ali, Sajid Khan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood and Zahid Mahmood