Phil Simmons: “He [Babar] has been one of the top players in the world, in all three formats for a while now. There’s nothing that he hasn’t done in all three formats”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Karachi Kings head coach Phil Simmons has heaped praise on Pakistan batsman Babar Azam, saying he has been “one of the top players in the world” for quite some time.
Azam has been Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorer in all three formats for the last few years and has won them numerous matches.
Given all the 29-year-old has achieved, Simmons admitted there is “nothing that he hasn’t done.”
“He [Babar] has been one of the top players in the world, in all three formats for a while now. There’s nothing that he hasn’t done in all three formats,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
Azam recently scored 126 runs at an average of 21 in Pakistan’s three-match Test series against Australia.
He then proceeded to make 213 runs, which included three half-centuries, at an average of 42.60 and a strike-rate of 142 in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand.
Currently, Azam is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and has amassed 544 runs in 10 matches, which includes a century and five fifties, at an average of 60.44 and a strike-rate of 144.29.
The Zalmi lost to the Multan Sultans by seven wickets in the Qualifier on March 14 and will now face either the Quetta Gladiators or Islamabad United in Eliminator 2 on March 16.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 9:Â 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