Umar Gul: “There should never be a doubt about Babar Azam’s calibre. He’s a batter who’s in the same class as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan seamer Umar Gul believes batsman Babar Azam is in the “same class” as India’s Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, England’s Joe Root and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson.
Azam has been struggling to score runs consistently lately, but he has been working hard to break out of the rough patch he finds himself in.
Gul also warned people not to doubt the 30-year-old’s calibre as he has won plenty of matches for the men in green in the past.
“There should never be a doubt about Babar Azam’s calibre. He’s a batter who’s in the same class as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Joe Root and Kane Williamson,” he was quoted as saying by journalist Farid Khan on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam was recently left out of Pakistan’s team for the T20I series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the T20I tour of Bangladesh, and the T20I series against the West Indies.
He did end up featuring in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and made 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
After the West Indies tour, Azam failed to make the cut for the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, which the men in green won.
He was also ignored for the ongoing 2025 Asia Cup, which is being held in the UAE.
The men in green won their opening match against Oman by 93 runs, but lost their next game against India by seven wickets.
Despite this, Pakistan advanced to the Super Four stage with a 41-run win over the UAE.
Next up for them will be a clash against arch-rivals India once again on September 21 in Dubai.
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
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