Shahid Afridi: “He is our hero and he’ll stay a hero”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former interim chief selector Shahid Afridi said captain Babar Azam is Pakistan’s hero and will always be one going forward.
Azam is among the most elite batsmen in the world due to his consistency when it comes to scoring runs in all three formats of the game.
In Pakistan’s recent home series against New Zealand, he was in solid form with the bat as he started off by scoring 226 in the two-Test series, which included a top score of 161, at an average of 56.50.
He then proceeded to make 149 runs in three ODIs, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 49.66.
However, with the Test series ending as a 0-0 draw and New Zealand winning the ODI series 2-1, there have been rumours that Azam may no longer captain Pakistan in all three forms.
Regardless of what is being said about the 28-year-old, Afridi noted that he will always be a champion player.
“He is our hero and he’ll stay a hero,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam’s next assignment will be the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will represent the Peshawar Zalmi after being traded to them from the Karachi Kings in return for Haider Ali and Shoaib Malik.
PSL 8 will be held from February 13 to March 19 in four Pakistan cities – Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
The Zalmi will begin their campaign against the Kings in Karachi on February 14.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Rovman Powell, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (Sri Lanka), Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Arshad Iqbal, Danish Aziz, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Saim Ayub, Salman Irshad, Usman Qadir, Haseebullah Khan, Sufyan Muqeem, James Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail and Richard Gleeson