Rilee Rossouw: “I think he is world-class cricket player. He is a professional; he [plays] cricket really well, better than most people out there. He is a very enjoyable, loving guy”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
South Africa cricketer Rilee Rossouw has hailed Pakistan limited overs captain Babar Azam as a “world-class” player, saying he is “better than most people out there.”
The 29-year-old has long been Pakistan’s most dependable run-scorer in all three formats and has also won the men in green many matches over the years.
Recently, Azam and Rossouw played in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), with the former captaining the Peshawar Zalmi and the latter being in charge of the Quetta Gladiators.
Azam was unstoppable throughout the tournament and finished as the 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.
“I think he is world-class cricket player. He is a professional; he [plays] cricket really well, better than most people out there. He is a very enjoyable, loving guy,” Rossouw told Cricket Pakistan.
Rossouw had a completely different season in comparison to Azam as he was restricted to 148 runs in 10 games at an average of 16.44 and a strike-rate of 107.24.
Both the Gladiators and Zalmi made it to the plays and were eliminated by eventual champions Islamabad United in Eliminator 1 and 2 respectively.
Azam will now lead Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which will take place in Rawalpindi and Lahore from April 18 to 27.
Pakistan Squad for New Zealand T20I Series: Babar Azam (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan, Mohammad Amir, Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usama Mir, Usman Khan, Zaman Khan
Non-travelling reserves: Haseebullah Khan, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha
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