Salman Ali Agha: “He knows he needs to bring new things into his game… He understands this stuff because he’s such a big player, and he recognises he needs to take things to the next level”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan T20I captain Salman Ali Agha confirmed batsman Babar Azam is aware that he “needs to bring new things into his game.”
Azam recently returned to the T20I team after being overlooked for a few series. Many attributed his removal from the team to the fact that he was scoring too slowly.
The 31-year-old made his comeback in the three-match T20I series against South Africa and amassed 79 runs, which included a top score of 68, at an average of 39.50 and a strike-rate of 117.91.
In the team’s next T20I assignment – a tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe – Azam continued to be rock solid as he scored 127 runs in five games, which included a top score of 74, at an average of 31.75 and a strike-rate of 112.38.
Even though Azam has played a couple of excellent knocks since returning to the T20I side, Salman reiterated the Lahore native has plenty of work to do in order to “take things to the next level.”
“He knows he needs to bring new things into his game… He understands this stuff because he’s such a big player, and he recognises he needs to take things to the next level,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
Azam did not feature in Pakistan’s T20I tour of Sri Lanka as he is in action for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL), where he has accumulated 154 runs in eight matches, which includes two half-centuries, at an average of 25.66 and a strike-rate of 104.05.
Pakistan’s next assignment will be a T20I series against Australia in Lahore from January 29 to February 1.