Abid Ali: “Allah has given Pakistan such a star that there are no words to describe it”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Abid Ali, the opening batsman, said Allah has given Pakistan a huge star in Babar Azam.
Azam captains the men in green in all three formats and is the team’s frontline batsman too, a role in which he has been excelling at over the past few years as he has been scoring plenty of runs.
The 29-year-old is so good, in fact, that Abid has “no words to describe” the brilliance of his batting.
“Allah has given Pakistan such a star that there are no words to describe it,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam has been in solid form over the past couple of months as he amassed 76 runs in the two-Test series against Sri Lanka at an average of 25.33.
He subsequently went on to score 113 runs in three ODIs against Afghanistan, which included two fifties, at an average of 37.66.
Most recently, he led Pakistan in the Asia Cup and finished with 207 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 151, at an average of 51.75.
Right now, he is in action in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he has made scores of 5 and 10 in the first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka respectively.
Despite not being at his best in those matches, Pakistan beat the Netherlands by 81 runs and Sri Lanka by six wickets, during which they chased down a target of 345, making it the highest successful run chase in World Cup history.
Azam regained some form in Pakistan’s clash against India as he scored 50 runs, but it was not enough to earn the men in green a victory as they lost by seven wickets.
Pakistan will be looking to bounce back from that loss when they face off against 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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Australia and Pakistan have a long history of ODI clashes, having met 107 times. Australia has emerged victorious in 69 of these encounters, while Pakistan has claimed 34 wins. Three matches concluded without a result, and one ended in a tie. In their most recent three ODIs, Pakistan secured two wins, and Australia managed one.