Mickey Arthur: “I still remember walking to the indoor centre in Lahore and Grant Flower said to me, come and have a look at this young player. I was amazed. I hadn’t seen a talent like that before”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Mickey Arthur, the Pakistan team director, recalled that the first time he saw captain Babar Azam, he thought he “hadn’t seen a talent like that before”.
He remembered former batting coach Grant Flower told him to “have a look” at Azam. From there, he was intrigued by the 28-year-old and how big of an asset he could become for the men in green.
Since that time, Azam has gone on to become Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorer and leads the team in all three formats.
“I still remember walking to the indoor centre in Lahore and Grant Flower said to me, come and have a look at this young player. I was amazed. I hadn’t seen a talent like that before,” Arthur was quoted as saying by respected journalist Saj Sadiq on Twitter.
Azam is currently leading Pakistan in their two-Test series against Sri Lanka, which will be held until July 28.
Pakistan Squad for Sri Lanka Test Series:Â Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (vc & wk), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Huraira, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Shan Masood