Kane Williamson: “He [Babar] is a world-class player. Cricket comes with a full range of feelings and emotions and part of it is navigating each day and looking to improve”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson has shown his support for underperforming Pakistan batsman Babar Azam, calling him a “world-class player.”
Azam’s poor run of form has lasted for a few months and has been a major issue for the men in green as he is one of their go-to run-scorers.
In the recent three-match Test series against Australia, the 29-year-old was restricted to 126 runs at an average of 21.
He then proceeded to make 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.
“He [Babar] is a world-class player. Cricket comes with a full range of feelings and emotions and part of it is navigating each day and looking to improve,” Williamson was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam is now captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and made scores of 68 and 72 in the first two games against the Quetta Gladiators and Karachi Kings respectively.
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