AB de Villiers: “My message to Babar is simple: keep scoring runs”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Legendary South Africa cricketer AB de Villiers has advised Pakistan batsman Babar Azam to “keep scoring runs”.
Azam has struggled to be consistent as of late, even though he has shown flashes of getting back to his best at times.
One of the major problems the 30-year-old has at the moment is converting his starts into big scores.
De Villiers noted that Azam is a top batsman who has achieved great accomplishments in the past. Despite currently being in the midst of a rough patch, he told the Lahore native to simply focus on doing what he does best – making lots of runs.
“Babar Azam is in good form; he just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s the fastest to 6,000 runs alongside Hashim Amla, so he must be doing something right. We all know he has lost a bit of form in Test cricket over the past few seasons, and the added pressure of captaincy has played on his mind,” he said during a live interaction on his YouTube channel as quoted by Geo Super.
“For him, it’s about maintaining his rhythm and focusing on getting the job done… Just focus on scoring runs. That’s the same advice I give to my son when he’s frustrated about not making a team or not batting where he wants. My message to Babar is simple: keep scoring runs.”
Azam recently featured in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, and accumulated 62 runs in three games at an average of 20.66.
He then took part in the 2025 Champions Trophy and struck 87 runs in two matches, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand and India in the Champions Trophy, which led to them getting eliminated in the group stage.
Their final game against Bangladesh was washed out.
Pakistan Squad for 2025 Champions Trophy: Mohammad Rizwan (captain and wicketkeeper), Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Kamran Ghulam, Saud Shakeel, Tayyab Tahir, Faheem Ashraf, Khushdil Shah, Salman Ali Agha, Usman Khan, Abrar Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Naseem Shah
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