James Neesham: “The nature of players of the quality of Babar Azam is that sometimes the best plans don’t work”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham said “sometimes the best plans don’t work” against players like Pakistan captain Babar Azam since they are absolutely brilliant.
Azam has gained a reputation for being one of the elite batsmen in world cricket due to his ability to score runs at home and away in all three formats.
While the 29-year-old from Lahore hasn’t been at his best over the past couple of months, Neesham knows not to underestimate a player of Azam’s quality.
“The nature of players of the quality of Babar Azam is that sometimes the best plans don’t work,” he told Geo News.
Azam is currently in action in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup and has amassed 207 runs in six matches, which includes three fifties, at an average of 34.50.
Pakistan began with successive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before everything went wrong for them as they lost to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
The men in green turned their fortunes around when they faced Bangladesh as they walked away with a seven-wicket win, which kept their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup semi-finals alive.
Next up for them will be a clash against New Zealand on November 4 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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