Mudassar Nazar: “The performance of Babar in Tests is quite different from his ODI and T20 performances. Although, he is an excellent Test batsman, but he chases the ball a little [in Tests]”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan cricketer Mudassar Nazar said Babar Azam tends to chase the ball when batting in Tests, which has become a noticeable weakness in his game.
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia, but failed to have much of an impact as he was restricted to 126 runs at an average of 21.
Nazar acknowledged that the 29-year-old’s batting in Tests is “quite different” from how he plays in ODIs and T20Is, where he tends to have a little more success.
“The performance of Babar in Tests is quite different from his ODI and T20 performances. Although, he is an excellent Test batsman, but he chases the ball a little [in Tests],” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost 3-0 in their Test series against Australia and then played a five-match T20I series against New Zealand, where Azam scored 213 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 42.60 and a strike-rate of 142.
Azam is now captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and scored 68 in the team’s opening game against the Quetta Gladiators.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9: Babar Azam (captain), Rovman Powell, Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Asif Ali, Mohammad Haris, Aamer Jamal, Naveen-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Salman Irshad, Arif Yaqoob, Umair Afridi, Dan Mousley, Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Zeeshan, Mehran Mumtaz, Luke Wood, Sufiyan Muqeem, Waqar Salamkheil, Arshad Iqbal, Gus Atkinson, Shamar Joseph