Ramiz Raja: “Babar Azam has added new shots, his range has expanded. He is relaxed because he is not captaining Pakistan now. I love the way he is improvising now, the way he is accelerating his innings and playing shots which he didn’t”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has praised Babar Azam for his improvisation when batting and pointed out that the 29-year-old is “playing shots which he didn’t” in the past.
Ramiz had attributed Azam’s more relaxed state of mind to the fact that he was no longer captaining the Pakistan team. The star batsman stepped down as skipper in all three formats following the men in green’s dismal performance in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
However, he returned as limited overs captain in March 2024.
When he was free of the pressure, Ramiz said he noticed that Azam added new shots to his arsenal and learnt how to accelerate his innings at the right time.
“Babar Azam has added new shots, his range has expanded. He is relaxed because he is not captaining Pakistan now. I love the way he is improvising now, the way he is accelerating his innings and playing shots which he didn’t,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently captained Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and amassed 125 runs, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 31.25 and a strike-rate of 138.88.
He then scored 132 runs in three T20Is against Ireland, which included two fifties, at an average of 44 and a strike-rate of 148.31.
Pakistan’s next assignment will see them play four T20Is against England from May 22 to May 30.
After that, they will participate in the T20 World Cup, which will be played in the West Indies and United States of America from June 1 to 29.
Pakistan’s first T20 World Cup game will be against the United States of America in Dallas on June 6.
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
[TS_Poll id=”124″]