Abid Ali: “Babar has played with me; he’s also my junior – now he is a world-class player”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Abid Ali, the top order batsman, said former Pakistan captain Babar Azam is a “world-class player” as he has been dominating international cricket for numerous years.
Azam has consistently scored runs across all three formats at home and abroad, propelling him to be among the best of the best when it comes to in-form batsmen.
What makes his batting even more special is the fact that he keeps on delivering despite having the added pressure of being Pakistan’s frontline batsman.
Knowing the lofty expectations the Lahore native has to meet, Abid admitted that Azam is an extraordinary cricketer.
“Babar has played with me; he’s also my junior – now he is a world-class player,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam resigned as Pakistan captain in all three formats following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 40.
The men in green began with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before stumbling against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to take down Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to book their spot in the semi-finals.
Pakistan concluded their campaign in dismal fashion as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Azam will now feature in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which will get underway 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