Kane Williamson: “He is a fantastic person and obviously a world-class player. He is among those whom I have admired in terms of how they played their cricket”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
New Zealand cricketer Kane Williamson said he admires how Pakistan batsman Babar Azam plays his cricket.
He noted that the 30-year-old is “a world-class player”, especially considering what he has done for Pakistan cricket over the years.
Azam has been going through a rough patch for many months, but has shown signs of getting back to his best as of late.
During the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), he scored 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
After PSL 10 ended, he missed out on Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, and the T20I series against the West Indies.
He did return to feature in the ODI series against the West Indies and amassed 56 runs in three matches at an average of 18.66.
Following this, Azam was left out of the squad when Pakistan took on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan in a T20I tri-series in Sharjah, which they won.
“In terms of Babar Azam, we found common ground with the bat and captaincy. He is a fantastic person and obviously a world-class player. He is among those whom I have admired in terms of how they played their cricket. He is a wonderful player to watch, so it was nice to connect with him off the field,” Williamson was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Pakistan are now playing in the 2025 Asia Cup, which is taking place in the UAE.
They began with a 93-run win over Oman before losing to India by seven wickets.
The men in green got their campaign back on track when they faced the UAE as they secured a 41-run win.
Pakistan squad for UAE T20I tri-series and 2025 Asia Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem
[TS_Poll id=”149″]