Salman Butt: “We often say that Babar Azam can’t hit sixes. But my question for all those people is – is hitting sixes an achievement or a qualifying thing? Doesn’t a boundary also count as four runs?”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has come to Babar Azam’s defence, questioning the heavy focus on his inability to hit sixes.
He asked whether six-hitting is a qualifying criterion for selection in the T20I side, adding that Azam has other ways of scoring runs.
Elaborating further, Salman pointed out that Azam is capable of consistently finding the boundary and, despite not relying heavily on sixes, was still able to remain the top-ranked T20I batsman for multiple years.
“We often say that Babar Azam can’t hit sixes. But my question for all those people is – is hitting sixes an achievement or a qualifying thing? Doesn’t a boundary also count as four runs? Just tell me how Babar remained the number one T20I batter for three years?” he was quoted as saying on Facebook.
Azam was recently named Test captain and is now getting ready to lead the men in green in their two-Test series against the West Indies, which will take place in Trinidad and Tobago from July 25 to August 6.
Pakistan will then head to England for a three-Test series 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