Ravi Shastri: “He’s a quality player and has the experience to adjust, but he has to do it quickly”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has urged Pakistan batsman Babar Azam to quickly adapt his approach in T20Is, warning that he cannot continue scoring at a slow pace.
Azam’s strike-rate has come under increasing scrutiny, with critics arguing that his cautious approach consumes too many deliveries and places added pressure on the middle order.
Shastri acknowledged that the 31-year-old has the ability to evolve his game in the shortest format but emphasised the importance of delivering during the middle overs, describing it as a “crucial phase in T20 cricket”.
“There will be questions asked. He’s a quality player and has the experience to adjust, but he has to do it quickly. The middle overs are a crucial phase in T20 cricket, and you can’t afford to take too much time unless conditions heavily favour the bowlers,” he said on The ICC Review as quoted by Geo Super.
Azam was recently involved in the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he helped the Peshawar Zalmi be crowned champions as he was the highest run-scorer with 588 runs in 11 matches, which included two centuries and three fifties, at an average of 73.50 and a strike-rate of 145.90.
He returned to international duty after that, playing in one Test against Bangladesh and scoring 115 runs, which included a top score of 68, at an average of 57.50.
Next came three ODIs against Australia, where he struck 125 runs, which included a top score of 69, at an average of 41.66.
Azam was recently named Pakistan Test captain and will therefore lead the men in green in their upcoming two-match series against the West Indies, which will be held in Trinidad and Tobago from July 25 to August 6.
Pakistan will then travel to England to play three Tests from August 19 to September 13.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies Test Series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah
Pakistan Squad for England Test series: Babar Azam (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Fazal, Ali Usman, Azan Awais, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Awais Zafar, Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel (subject to fitness), Shan Masood and Ubaid Shah