Ricky Ponting: “You look at their strike-rates though and there is no comparison there, Buttler is much more dynamic, sort of a more 360-degree player than Babar is”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia legend Ricky Ponting said England wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler is more of a “360-degree player” than Pakistan captain Babar Azam.
Buttler is known for his brute strength and aggression when batting, and has single-handedly won games for England on a number of occasions.
Ponting added that the 32-year-old’s strike-rate is much better than Azam’s, especially in T20Is.
The Pakistan skipper has been heavily criticised recently for his low strike-rate in the shortest format, with people saying that it puts undue pressure on the middle order to pick up the slack.
“You look at their strike-rates though and there is no comparison there, Buttler is much more dynamic, sort of a more 360-degree player than Babar is,” Ponting said on The ICC Review as quoted by NDTV.
Azam is now playing in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he is leading the Peshawar Zalmi.
He was traded to them from the Karachi Kings in return for Pakistan big-hitter Haider Ali and veteran all-rounder Shoaib Malik.
The Zalmi will kickstart their campaign with a clash against the Kings on February 14 in Karachi.
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