Ramiz Raja: “Pakistan team is heavily reliant on Babar Azam, be it Test cricket, ODIs or T20Is”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has admitted that the men in green are “heavily reliant” on captain Babar Azam.
Azam is expected to continuously score runs, just like he has been doing across all three formats for the past couple of years.
When he fails to make big scores in a couple of games, his critics start verbally attacking him.
However, Ramiz pointed out that Pakistan cannot afford to solely rely on the Lahore native, adding that other batsmen need to step up and prove their worth.
“Pakistan team is heavily reliant on Babar Azam, be it Test cricket, ODIs or T20Is,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted 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 proceeded to score 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Most recently, he was in action in the Asia Cup and accumulated 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Pakistan are now playing in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where Azam has made scores of 5 and 10 in their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively.
He found some form in the match against India as he struck 50 off 58 balls, which included seven boundaries. However, Pakistan ended up losing the match by seven wickets.
The men in green will now face Australia on October 20 in Bengaluru.
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
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