Ricky Ponting: “He’s sort of got the ability to go up and down the gears as a batsman when the game and the situation needs him to”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia batting great Ricky Ponting said Pakistan captain Babar Azam has got all the gears and can switch between them depending on the situation.
Should the need to take a more attacking or defensive approach arise, Ponting noted that the 28-year-old can adapt accordingly.
“He’s sort of got the ability to go up and down the gears as a batsman when the game and the situation needs him to,” he said while speaking on The ICC Review.
Most recently, Azam featured in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Peshawar Zalmi.
He finished as the second-highest run-scorer with 522 runs in 11 matches, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 52.20 and a strike-rate of 145.40.
Azam was rested for Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Afghanistan in Sharjah, which they lost 2-1.
The men in green will now play five T20Is and five ODIs against New Zealand, which will begin on April 14.
Pakistan squad for T20I series against New Zealand: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Iftikhar Ahmed, Ihsanullah, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Haris, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Zaman Khan
Pakistan squad for ODI series against New Zealand: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abdullah Shafique, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Haris Sohail, Ihsanullah, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood and Usama Mir