Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja was full of praise for the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his outstanding batting in all formats of the game and compared him with the legendary cricketer Don Bradman owing to his skill set and consistency in the game.
Babar Azam has been an exceptional performer for men in green in all three formats since his debut for Pakistan and is regarded as one of the greatest batters from Pakistan to play in World Cricket.
During the T20 series against New Zealand, Babar went past Indian skipper, Rohit Sharma’s record of T20I centuries as a skipper, with his recent hundred for Pakistan, it was Babar’s third century in T20Is, and all of them have come while leading the national side.
Speaking to the media, Ramiz Raja believes that Babar Azam is no less than the Australian legend Don Bradman, stating that his record speaks for himself, especially in the white ball, and hailed him for his consistency in the shorter formats of the game, stating that he had got the terrific technique and temperament to play the game.
“Babar Azam is no less than Don Bradman. In white-ball cricket, he has statistically become the best player in the world. I have never seen so much consistency from a player in such a risky format. The base of which is his technique and temperament. He has no technical issues, whether it is a grassy pitch or a pitch like Karachi, where bowlers generally struggle,” Ramiz Raja said.
The right-hander had a prolific 2022 across formats, bagging the ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year Award and also being named the captain of the ODI team. He also won the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year award.
Babar has a total of 30 hundred in all formats of cricket in International cricket, with over 59.86 average in 50 overs format in 97 innings and his latest century came against the New Zealand team on Friday where he scored 107 runs to help his side post a total of 334-6 at the end of 50 overs.
Babar Azam Is The Reason Why Pakistan Has Become Number One Team In ODI Rankings – Ramiz Raja
Ramiz Raja praised him for being the fastest to complete 5,000 one-day international runs to surpass South Africa Hashim Amla’s feat of reaching the milestone in 101 innings from 104 matches. Babar Azam has been the number one batter on the International Cricket Council for the last two years.
“He is the fastest to 5000 ODI runs and has surpassed many legends like Viv Richards, which is a big achievement. He is the reason why Pakistan has become the number one team in the ODI rankings,” Ramiz Raja added.
With the victory over New Zealand in the fourth ODI, Pakistan took a 4-0 lead in the ongoing five-match ODI series and climbed up to the number one spot in the ODI team rankings for the first time.