Ramiz Raja: “He is not entirely out of touch, he is still middling the ball, but it’s that when he begins his innings against spin, he looks just a little bit jittery”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has admitted that batsman Babar Azam is “a little bit jittery” against spin bowling early on, but is “not entirely out of touch.”
Azam’s form had been a major cause for concern going into the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup as he is Pakistan’s batting leader.
During the tournament, the 29-year-old regained some of his consistency as he made 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
Ramiz pointed out that Azam is “middling the ball”, but has a noticeable problem when facing spin upfront.
“He is not entirely out of touch, he is still middling the ball, but it’s that when he begins his innings against spin, he looks just a little bit jittery,” he told Star Sports as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan won their first two games against the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before falling to India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Despite ending their four-game losing streak with successive victories over Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to book their spot in the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a sour note as England battered them by 93 runs.
Azam will now be involved in 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
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