Ramiz Raja: “Now he has to prove to the world with his temperament that he is Vivian Richards. Bigger the contest, bigger the innings Richards used to play”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Ramiz Raja wants Babar Azam to prove he is like legendary West Indies batsman Sir Viv Richards by playing big innings in important matches.
Azam has seen his form decline over the last few months and questions have been raised about whether there is a problem with his technique or if he is sinking under the immense pressure put on him.
Regardless of the reason, Ramiz insisted the 30-year-old must find a way to get back to his best and start scoring big runs again as the men in green really need him firing on all cylinders.
“Now he has to prove to the world with his temperament that he is Vivian Richards. Bigger the contest, bigger the innings Richards used to play,” he said on his YouTube channel as quoted by A Sports.
In Pakistan’s two-Test series against Bangladesh, Azam failed to have much of an impact as he made 64 runs at an average of 16.
He then played in the three-Test series against England, but was only selected for the first Test, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
Most recently, he was in action in Pakistan’s limited overs series against Australia and amassed 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
In the three T20Is that followed, he finished with 47 runs at an average of 15.66.
Next up for Pakistan will be a white-ball tour of Zimbabwe, where they will play 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 (captain and 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 (captain and 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 (captain and 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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