Zaka Ashraf: “We want to see him grow as a great batter and now without his additional burden of the captaincy, he can focus more on his performances to reach even greater heights”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf said he wants frontline batsman Babar Azam to keep growing and reaching greater heights now that he is no longer captain.
Azam resigned from the leadership role in all three formats after Pakistan were eliminated from the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
Going into the tournament, the 29-year-old’s form had been a major concern for the men in green, but he managed to rediscover some consistency as he made 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
Nonetheless, Ashraf has high hopes for Azam going forward and expects to see the Lahore native get even better.
“We want to see him grow as a great batter and now without his additional burden of the captaincy, he can focus more on his performances to reach even greater heights,” he said in a PCB press release.
Recently, Azam scored 126 runs in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia at an average of 21.
He then amassed 213 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 42.60 and a strike-rate of 142 in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Next up for Azam will be the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he will captain the Peshawar Zalmi.
PSL 9 will be played from February 17 to March 18 in four cities – 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