Mudassar Nazar: “He is a world-class player and if his form disappears due to pressure, Pakistan will be daunted badly going forward”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former batsman Mudassar Nazar said Pakistan “will be daunted badly going forward” if captain Babar Azam were to lose his form.
He pointed out that Azam is constantly under pressure to perform and if he doesn’t or the team go through a rough patch, he is the one who is singled out for criticism.
Nazar noted that the 28-year-old is so important to Pakistan as he has played countless match-winning knocks for them over the years.
If his form were to simply disappear one day due to the immense pressure he is under, the 66-year-old feels that the men in green will be in for a world of trouble.
“He is a world-class player and if his form disappears due to pressure, Pakistan will be daunted badly going forward,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is now captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he has amassed 178 runs in five matches, which includes two half-centuries, at an average of 44.50 and a strike-rate of 130.88.
Next up for the Zalmi will be a clash against the Karachi Kings on Wednesday.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 8: Babar Azam, Sherfane Rutherford, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Haris, Aamir Jamal, Salman Irshad, Tom-Kohler Cadmore, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Rovman Powell, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Danish Aziz, Arshad Iqbal, Saim Ayub, Usman Qadir, Suifyan Muqeem, Haseebullah, Jimmy Neesham, Khurram Shahzad, Haris Sohail, Richard Gleeson (partial replacement for Rovman Powell), Peter Hatzoglou (partial replacement for Mujeeb ur Rahman), Shakib Al Hasan (available for playoffs), Azmatullah Omarzai