Shaheen Shah Afridi: “He never stopped believing in himself”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Pakistan ODI captain Shaheen Shah Afridi has praised Babar Azam’s resilience, saying the top order batsman “never stopped believing in himself”.
Azam had been struggling to score runs consistently for months, but has slowly started regaining some form lately.
The 31-year-old’s standout performance came during Pakistan’s ODI series against Sri Lanka as he struck a fantastic 102 not out, which was his first century in international cricket in more than two years.
Afridi admitted he was impressed with Azam’s inner strength during his rough patch as he was bombarded with criticism.
“He never stopped believing in himself,” he was quoted as saying by PakPassion on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam did not take part in Pakistan’s T20I tour of Sri Lanka as he was in action for the Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL).
In 11 matches, he amassed 202 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 22.44 and a strike-rate of 103.06.
Despite missing the Sri Lanka T20Is, Azam returned for the three-match T20I series against Australia and accumulated 76 runs, which included a top score of 50 not out, at an average of 38 and a strike-rate of 124.59.
Pakistan will now be involved in the 2026 T20 World Cup and will begin their campaign against the Netherlands on February 7 in Colombo.
Pakistan Squad for 2026 T20 World Cup: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Salman Mirza, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Usman Tariq
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