Ramiz Raja: “He makes the headlines even when he is dismissed for a duck”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has pointed out that captain Babar Azam makes headlines even when he gets dismissed for a duck.
Everyone has high expectations of him as he is supposed to be Pakistan’s frontline batsman.
As a result, when he fails to score runs, his critics start to lambast him and often blame him if Pakistan ends up losing a match.
In Ramiz’s eyes, this level of attention on Azam speaks volumes about how much the team relies on him and the high standards he has to adhere to.
“He makes the headlines even when he is dismissed for a duck,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam’s form with the bat has been slightly turbulent lately as he scored 76 runs in Pakistan’s two-Test series against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He followed that up with 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
His latest assignment was the Asia Cup, where he amassed 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Currently, Azam is leading the men in green in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has made scores of 5 and 10 in the team’s wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively.
Next up for Pakistan will be a clash against India on October 14 in Ahmedabad.
Pakistan Squad for 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup: Fakhar Zaman, Imam-ul-Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam (capt), Mohammad Rizwan, Saud Shakeel, Iftikhar Ahmed, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Usama Mir, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Hasan Ali