Fawad Alam: “In my opinion, such statements shouldn’t be made. You can’t compare anyone with Babar Azam”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Senior Pakistan cricketer Fawad Alam believes opener Saim Ayub cannot be compared to Babar Azam as he isn’t anywhere close to his level.
His comments come after top order batsman Fakhar Zaman said Ayub is “Babar Azam’s updated version”.
Fawad feels Azam is miles ahead of every player in the national team right now as he has “delivered exceptional performances in all three formats”.
He added he knew the 30-year-old was destined for greatness even before he got into the Pakistan team as he was a force to be reckoned with in domestic cricket.
“In my opinion, such statements shouldn’t be made. You can’t compare anyone with Babar Azam,” Fawad was quoted as saying by A Sports.
“He (Azam) has delivered exceptional performances in all three formats. Even before he broke into the national team, his quality was evident in domestic cricket. I’ve seen first-hand that no one in the current setup comes close to him.”
While Azam hasn’t been part of Pakistan’s T20I team for quite some time, Ayub did play in the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, where he amassed 111 runs in five matches, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 22.20 and a strike-rate of 132.14.
The 23-year-old then proceeded to feature in the 2025 Asia Cup, where he performed poorly with the bat as he was restricted to 37 runs in seven games at an average of 5.28 and a strike-rate of 97.36.
Pakistan got to the final in the tournament, but fell short of being crowned champions after losing to India by five wickets.
The men in green will be back in action soon as they will host South Africa for two Tests, three T20Is, and three ODIs, which will take place from October 12 to November 8.
Pakistan squad for South Africa Test series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Asif Afridi, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Kamran Ghulam, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi
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