Mohammad Yousuf: “I felt sad looking at Babar, He should not take too much stress”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Pakistan Under-19 head coach Mohammad Yousuf said he “felt sad” looking at former captain Babar Azam and expressed concerns about his stress levels.
Azam resigned as skipper following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he amassed 340 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
While he may be free of the leadership pressure, Yousuf reiterated that he is still worried about the 29-year-old’s wellbeing.
“I felt sad looking at Babar, He should not take too much stress,” he told Samaa TV as quoted by NDTV.
Pakistan began the World Cup with wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite ending their four-game skid with consecutive victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
The men in green concluded their campaign on a low as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Azam will now represent Pakistan in their 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
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