Misbah-ul-Haq: “Babar Azam played some unorthodox shots… but he also showed how power-hitting has to be done by playing pure cricketing shots. He has added a few new shots in his game and he will become more lethal now”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq believes Babar Azam will be a “more lethal” batsman now that he has “added a few new shots in his game.”
Misbah noted that he spotted Azam utilising these new shots while captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL).
The 29-year-old was on fire throughout the tournament and finished as highest run-scorer with 569 runs in 11 games, which included a century and five fifties, at an average of 56.90 and a strike-rate of 142.60.
One thing that stood out to Misbah was Azam’s power-hitting, which was “done by playing pure cricketing shots” instead of wild slogging.
“Babar Azam played some unorthodox shots… but he also showed how power-hitting has to be done by playing pure cricketing shots. He has added a few new shots in his game and he will become more lethal now. He was superb,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Zalmi managed to reach the playoffs in PSL 9, but ended up being eliminated after losing to the Multan Sultans in the Qualifier and Islamabad United in Eliminator 2.
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