Mohammad Yousuf: “Be strong now because things will get better, it might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Under-19 head coach Mohammad Yousuf is confident that “things will get better” for star batsman Babar Azam, who has been inconsistent as of late.
Azam has been Pakistan’s most reliable run-scorer in all three formats for the past few years, but he is currently in the midst of a rough patch.
The 29-year-old scored 126 runs at an average of 21 in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, which they lost 3-0.
He showed signs of recovering in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand that followed as he amassed 213 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 42.60 and a strike-rate of 142.
Yousuf knows how good Azam is and encouraged him to keep believing in himself and his skills as it has brought him plenty of success over the years.
“Be strong now because things will get better, it might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Despite Azam’s efforts with the bat, the men in green were comprehensively beaten 4-1 by New Zealand.
Azam will now captain the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), which will take place from February 17 to March 18 in Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Haseebullah Khan, Asif Ali, Naveen-ul-Haq, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Mohammad Zeeshan, Lungi Ngidi, Mehran Mumtaz, Noor Ahmad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob