Saud Shakeel: “Babar Azam is a world-class batter who makes [the] situation difficult for the opposition”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan Test vice-captain, Saud Shakeel said Babar Azam “is a world-class batter” who makes life difficult for opposing teams.
Azam has struggled to score runs on a consistent basis lately, but possesses the skills to inflict a lot of damage with the bat.
Recently, he scored 129 runs in three ODIs against New Zealand, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
He continued to put up solid numbers in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Peshawar Zalmi.
In 10 games, the 30-year-old accumulated 288 runs, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
“Babar Azam is a world-class batter who makes [the] situation difficult for the opposition,” Shakeel, who led the Quetta Gladiators in PSL 10, was quoted as saying by journalist Arfa Feroz Zake on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Following PSL 10, Pakistan faced Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but neither Azam nor Shakeel was selected in the squad.
The men in green won the series 3-0.
Next up for Pakistan will be a tour of Bangladesh, where they will play three T20Is in Mirpur from July 20 to 24.
Once again, Azam and Shakeel were overlooked by the national selectors.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza and Sufiyan Muqeem