Sir Viv Richards: “Babar Azam will soon regain his form. A king is one who rules over all”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
West Indies great Sir Viv Richards has backed Pakistan batsman Babar Azam to get back to his best soon, saying “a king is one who rules over all”.
Often referred to as the king of Pakistan cricket when he was flying high, Azam has not been able to score runs on a regular basis for the men in green for numerous months.
Concerns have been raised about how long it will take the 30-year-old to break out of the rough patch he finds himself in, but Richards is confident that it will be sooner rather than later.
“Babar Azam will soon regain his form. A king is one who rules over all,” he told Cricket Pakistan.
“No matter how good a batter you are, everyone goes through a rough patch. This is not the first time he’s facing such a phase. Babar is a very good player. I am sure he will get back to form very soon.”
Azam recently took part in Pakistan’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand and scored 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
He then captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and amassed 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
Following the conclusion of PSL 10, Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but Azam was overlooked for selection.
The men in green won the series 3-0.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Shadab Khan (vice-captain), Abbas Afridi, Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper) and Saim Ayub
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