Mohammad Hafeez: “This is a wrong perception that Babar has to perform every time”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez believes it is wrong of people to expect limited overs captain Babar Azam to score runs constantly.
Azam has consistently delivered with the bat in all three formats, but whenever he goes through a rough patch, his critics are quick to chastise him.
Hafeez feels this is unfair as other batsmen should be expected to step up whenever the 29-year-old fails to perform.
“This is a wrong perception that Babar has to perform every time,” he told Geo News.
Azam captained Pakistan in their five-match T20I series against New Zealand and finished with 125 runs, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 31.25 and a strike-rate of 138.88.
He then proceeded to make 132 runs in three T20Is against Ireland, which included two fifties, at an average of 44 and a strike-rate of 148.31.
In the four-match T20I series against England, he scored 68 runs in two games at an average of 34 and a strike-rate of 141.66.
Most recently, Azam led the men in green in the 2024 T20 World Cup and accumulated 122 runs in four matches at an average of 40.66 and a strike-rate of 101.66.
Pakistan lost to the United States of America and India before bouncing back to defeat Canada and Ireland.
Despite their back-to-back wins, they failed to progress to the Super Eights and ended up being eliminated in the group stage of the tournament.
Pakistan Squad for 2024 T20 World Cup: Babar Azam (capt), Saim Ayub, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Azam Khan (wk), Usman Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Amir, Abbas Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed
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