Tim Neilsen: “Babar Azam is hardworking and fit. I am sure in time he will find the magic source again and start to make significant runs for Pakistan”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan red-ball high-performance coach Tim Neilsen has backed Babar Azam to “find the magic source again” and start scoring “significant runs”.
Azam has been struggling with his form for quite some time and it has become a major thorn in the side for the men in green as they rely on him since he is one of their frontline batsmen.
Since it is common for top cricketers to go through rough patches, Neilsen isn’t panicking about Azam’s lack of runs, especially given that the 30-year-old is “hardworking and fit”.
“Babar Azam is hardworking and fit. I am sure in time he will find the magic source again and start to make significant runs for Pakistan,” he was quoted as saying by Khel Shel on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, Azam only managed to score 64 runs at an average of 16.
He subsequently played for the Stallions in the Champions One-Day Cup, which was a domestic 50-over competition that took place in Faisalabad.
In four games, he finished with 230 runs, which included a century and a fifty, at an average of 76.66.
Azam then proceeded to represent Pakistan in their three-Test series against England, but was only picked for the first Test, where he made 35 runs in total at an average of 17.50.
Despite Azam not being in the playing XI for the second and third Tests, Pakistan went on to beat England 2-1, which gave them their first Test series victory on home soil since 2021.
Pakistan will now tour Australia, where they will play three ODIs and three T20Is from November 4 to 18.
After that, they will travel to Zimbabwe for three ODIs and three T20Is from November 24 to December 5.
Pakistan Squad for Australia ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi
Pakistan Squad for Australia T20I Series: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe ODI Series: Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani, Tayyab Tahir
Pakistan Squad for Zimbabwe T20I Series: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir, Usman Khan
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