Matthew Hayden: “When you think about the modern-day greats, (Steve) Smith, (Virat) Kohli, Babar Azam, these are once-in-a-lifetime and once-in-a-generation cricketers”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Matthew Hayden, the legendary Australia opener, believes Pakistan captain Babar Azam is among the “modern-day greats” and a “once-in-a-lifetime” batsman.
Azam is widely seen as one of the elite cricketers in all three formats due to his ability to score runs in all types of conditions.
What makes his consistency even more impressive is the fact that he has the additional pressure of the captaincy weighing down on his shoulders.
“When you think about the modern-day greats, (Steve) Smith, (Virat) Kohli, Babar Azam, these are once-in-a-lifetime and once-in-a-generation cricketers,” Hayden was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently scored 76 runs in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He then went on to make 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Currently, he is playing in the Asia Cup, where he started his campaign with a bang as he smashed a magnificent 151 in Pakistan’s 238-run win over Nepal.
In the team’s next match against India, he didn’t get a chance to bat as the game was rained off following India’s first innings score of 266.
Despite the result, Pakistan advanced to the Super Four stage.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 Asia Cup:Â Babar Azam (capt), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Saud Shakeel, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, Saud Shakeel, Salman Ali Agha, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Usama Mir, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wk), Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr.
Travelling reserve: Tayyab Tahir