Khawaja Nafay: “Since I started playing cricket, I have followed Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam. Rohit plays all bowlers with ease, while whenever I saw Babar on TV, he was scoring runs. Seeing Babar Azam, I got motivated, and I worked hard to make runs”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan up-and-coming batsman Khawaja Nafay said he admires limited overs captain Babar Azam and aims to be just as successful as the 29-year-old is.
He noted that Azam motivated him to work hard and keep scoring runs in order to earn chances at the higher level.
His dedication to becoming better led to Nafay becoming one of the standout talents in the 2024 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he played for the Quetta Gladiators.
In addition to Azam, the 22-year-old admitted that he has also been inspired by India captain Rohit Sharma and the way he dominates opposition bowlers.
“Since I started playing cricket, I have followed Rohit Sharma and Babar Azam. Rohit plays all bowlers with ease, while whenever I saw Babar on TV, he was scoring runs. Seeing Babar Azam, I got motivated, and I worked hard to make runs,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
In PSL 9, Nafay accumulated 182 runs in 10 matches, which included a top score of 60 not out, at an average of 22.75 and a strike-rate of 121.33.
Nafay did not feature in Pakistan’s five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which ended as a 2-2 draw.
Next up for the men in green will be a three-match T20I series against Ireland from May 10 to 14.
After that, they will play four T20Is against England from May 22 to May 30.
Pakistan Squad for Ireland and England T20I Series: Babar Azam (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Azam Khan, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan
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