Steve Smith: “Babar Azam is a very skillful player; his technique is very good. He has not been scoring well for some time, which is part of the game. I hope he will regain his form soon”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia batting maestro Steve Smith has backed Pakistan superstar Babar Azam to regain his form soon as he is “a very skillful player”.
Azam has struggled to score runs consistently as of late, but Smith doesn’t think this rough patch will last very long as “his technique is very good”.
Recently, Azam was in action in Pakistan’s ODI tri-series against New Zealand and South Africa, where he mustered 62 runs in three games at an average of 20.66.
He then proceeded to play in the 2025 Champions Trophy and accumulated 87 runs in two matches, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
“Babar Azam is a very skillful player; his technique is very good. He has not been scoring well for some time, which is part of the game. I hope he will regain his form soon,” Smith was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand and India in the Champions Trophy, which led to them crashing out in the group stage.
Their final match against Bangladesh was abandoned due to rain.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a tour of New Zealand, which will consist of five T20Is and three ODIs that will be played from March 16 to April 5.
Pakistan Squad for T20I Series against New Zealand: Hasan Nawaz, Omair Yousuf, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Samad, Salman Ali Agha (captain), Irfan Khan Niazi, Khushdil Shah, Shadab Khan, Abbas Afridi, Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Sufiyan Muqeem, Abrar Ahmed, Usman Khan
Pakistan Squad for ODI Series against New Zealand: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Akif Javed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Irfan Khan Niazi, Naseem Shah, Sufiyan Muqeem, Tayyab Tahir