Shoaib Malik: “This has been happening quite often and it’s a request to Babar to start working against googly. He needs a bit of work [on] that”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik has advised captain Babar Azam to work on playing the googly as he has gotten out to it multiple times.
He noted that this has become a noticeable flaw in Azam’s game, even though the 28-year-old is one of the best batsmen in the world.
Providing even more advice, the 40-year-old told Azam to “watch many videos” if he is finding it tough to pick the googly when it is being bowled.
“This has been happening quite often and it’s a request to Babar to start working against googly. He needs a bit of work [on] that,” Malik was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
“If you cannot check a spinner’s hand, you need to watch many videos.”
Azam recently featured in the two-Test series against New Zealand, where he scored 226 runs, which included a top score of 161, at an average of 56.50.
He is now leading the men in green in a three-match ODI series against the Black Caps, which began on Monday in Karachi.
In the first ODI, he scored 66 runs off 82 balls, which included five boundaries and a six, before he was stumped off the bowling of Glenn Phillips.
Pakistan won the first match by six wickets and will be looking to wrap up the series in the second ODI on Wednesday.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand ODI series: Babar Azam (capt), Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim, Naseem Shah, Agha Salman, Shahnawaz Dahani, Shan Masood, Tayyab Tahir, Usama Mir
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