Michael Vaughan: “I am going to go with a modern-day player, a modern-day asset. Just lost his place in the Test team, but I’m sure he’ll get it back. He is world-class across all formats. His average is 47 across those formats, and in ODIs, he’s nearly averaging 57”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former England captain Michael Vaughan has no doubts that Babar Azam will return to the Pakistan Test team in the near future.
His comments come after Azam was removed from the squad midway through the three-Test series against England, which Pakistan won 2-1.
The 30-year-old only featured in the first Test, where he made scores of 30 and 5.
Even though Azam has been struggling to score runs consistently across all three formats, Vaughan insisted that the Lahore native is “a modern-day asset” and will start firing for Pakistan again really soon.
“I am going to go with a modern-day player, a modern-day asset. Just lost his place in the Test team, but I’m sure he’ll get it back. He is world-class across all formats. His average is 47 across those formats, and in ODIs, he’s nearly averaging 57,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
After the England series, Azam was involved in Pakistan’s limited overs tour of Australia and began by scoring 80 runs in three ODIs at an average of 80.
He then proceeded to make 47 runs in three T20Is at an average of 15.66.
Pakistan then took on Zimbabwe in a white-ball series, but Azam has been rested for it.
The men in green won the ODI leg 2-1 and the T20Is 2-1 as well.
Next up for Pakistan will be a tour of South Africa, which will consist of three T20Is, three ODIs and two Tests.
The T20I series will get underway on December 10, while the ODI and Test series will begin on December 17 and December 26 respectively.
Pakistan Squad for South Africa T20I Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Jahandad Khan, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan (wicketkeeper)
Pakistan Squad for South Africa Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Saud Shakeel (vice-captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Babar Azam, Haseebullah Khan (wicketkeeper), Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Naseem Shah, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub and Salman Ali Agha