Ramiz Raja: “He does take time to settle but he covers up for that later”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan captain, has defended current skipper Babar Azam, saying he may start slow in T20Is but “covers up for that” by scoring quicker later in his innings.
Azam has been heavily criticised for his low strike-rate in the shortest format as his critics feel it puts unnecessary pressure on the middle order batsmen.
However, Ramiz believes that the 28-year-old keeps getting the job done for the men in green with the bat, even though it might take him a little longer than people would like.
“He does take time to settle but he covers up for that later,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan recently defeated Sri Lanka 2-0 in a two-match Test series and are now facing Afghanistan in a three-match ODI series.
The men in green won the first two ODIs, with Azam scoring 53 runs off 66 balls in the second match.
Following this, Pakistan will play in the Asia Cup, which will be held in Pakistan and Sri Lanka from August 30 to September 17.
Pakistan Squad for Afghanistan ODI Series and 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel (Afghanistan series only), Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Tayyab Tahir, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr