Harsha Bhogle: “The big four is always Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson. And I think over the last four years, he (Babar Azam) said no, he’s not only big five but in [the] big four, he has knocked somebody out”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Respected cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle said Pakistan batting maestro Babar Azam “has knocked somebody out” of the Fab Four as he is not happy being on the fringe of the elite club.
The Fab Four is a term used to describe the four batsmen in world cricket right now.
Bhogle pointed out that India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and England’s Joe Root are often thought to be the members of the Fab Four.
However, he noted that Azam has been closing in on the quartet, while some feel he may have even dethroned one of them.
“We used to always talk about the big four and the big four is always Joe Root, Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, and Kane Williamson. And I think over the last four years, he (Babar Azam) said no, he’s not only big five but in [the] big four, he has knocked somebody out,” Bhogle was quoted as saying by Geo Super.
Azam stepped down as Pakistan captain in all three formats following the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he scored 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
The men in green began with consecutive wins over the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite fighting back to triumph over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to advance to the semi-finals.
Pakistan ended their campaign on a sour note as England hammered them by 93 runs.
Azam’s next assignment will be Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which starts 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