Wasim Akram: “When he scores runs, the entire country feels happy, we feel proud”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pace icon Wasim Akram said the whole of Pakistan “feels happy” and “proud” when batsman Babar Azam scores big runs.
Azam, who stepped down as captain in all three formats after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, has failed to do that lately despite making quite a few encouraging starts.
This trend continued in the World Cup as the 29-year-old amassed 320 runs in nine matches, which included four half-centuries, at an average of 40.
Despite this, Wasim hopes to see Azam posting big hundreds again and knows it is what everyone in Pakistan wants too.
“When he scores runs, the entire country feels happy, we feel proud,” the Sultan of Swing said on A Sports as quoted by NDTV.
Pakistan began by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they bounced back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they were unable to progress to the semi-finals.
The men in green ended their campaign on a low as England crushed them by 93 runs.
Azam will now play for Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, which gets 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