Shoaib Akhtar: “Babar Azam, a great player but again, great players need to play great innings. You can’t make yourself a big name by not performing against big nations. You have to show you can score big runs in big games”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has called on former captain Babar Azam to play “great innings” if he wants to continue being classified as an elite batsman.
His comments come after Azam wasn’t in the best of form going into the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Many people had high hopes for the 29-year-old in the tournament, but he failed to deliver any noteworthy performances as he finished with 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
“Babar Azam, a great player but again, great players need to play great innings. You can’t make yourself a big name by not performing against big nations. You have to show you can score big runs in big games,” Akhtar said on his YouTube channel as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two matches against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to beat Bangladesh and New Zealand, it was not enough to earn them a spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a sour note as they lost their final group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Azam will now play for Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, which will begin on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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