Inzamam-ul-Haq: “Babar Azam is a top player. Everyone goes through a rough patch, but the national team hasn’t been playing good cricket for the past few months”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has lavished praise on batsman Babar Azam, calling him “a top player”.
Azam has long been Pakistan’s most consistent run-scorer in all three formats, but has seen his form dip lately.
Despite not having scored an international century since August 2023, Inzamam has defended the 31-year-old, insisting that all players experience tough times during their careers.
“Babar Azam is a top player. Everyone goes through a rough patch, but the national team hasn’t been playing good cricket for the past few months,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Azam has missed all of Pakistan’s recent T20I assignments, which included a three-match series against Bangladesh in Lahore, the tour of Bangladesh, a three-match series against the West Indies, the T20I tri-series against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Afghanistan, and the 2025 Asia Cup.
He returned to action in the ongoing Test series against South Africa, where he has made scores of 23, 42 and 16 so far.
Pakistan hold a 1-0 lead in the series and will look to complete a 2-0 whitewash in the 2nd Test, which is currently taking place in Rawalpindi.
After the Test series, Pakistan and South Africa will play three T20Is and three ODIs.
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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