Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra feels that people are not giving credit to the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his brilliant century against Nepal in the Asia Cup opener on Wednesday and believes that people will realize the value of his knock once the top-quality players start failing in the tournament.

Babar Azam continued his rich form scoring his 19th century in the ODI format of the game. The Pakistan skipper broke the record of the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s 136 runs against Bangladesh in the continental event.

Speaking on his YouTube Channel, Aakash Chopra hailed the Pakistan skipper Babar Azam for his brilliant century in the Asia Cup opener against Nepal in Multan and feels that the Pakistan captain has set the tournament on fire after a composed knock in the opening game and said that people will realize the importance of knock once the high-quality players struggling in the same conditions.

“Nepal seemed confident after getting the two early wickets and everything was going according to plan. But then comes Babar Azam. Nineteen centuries in 102 innings, he’s truly an unbelievable player and is in a league of his own.”

“Now, of course, there will be people saying that ‘it’s just against minnows and it’s a flat pitch’. The tournament has just begun, and Babar Azam has set it on fire. Now, everyone will be playing against minnows and on great pitches and people will then notice that while the players are very good, but they couldn’t score 150+ in the same conditions. Pakistan, this time out, was actually in a troubling situation against Nepal but the way Azam maneuvered the innings was sublime,” Aakash Chopra said.

The Pakistan skipper was brilliant on his home soil, as he observed the pressure to tackle the bowlers in the middle over before taking on the bowlers in the end over of the game. Babar Azam would look to continue his fine form going into the second game against India in Kandy on September 2.

Iftikhar Ahmed Has Papered Over The Cracks For The Time Being – Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra said that they were concerned regarding Pakistan’s middle order batting, but Iftikhar Ahmed amazed everyone with his brilliant batting against Nepal scoring his maiden century in the ODI cricket, and lauded the Pakistan pacers for their exceptional bowling with new ball bowling.

“As we saw yesterday, there is an issue with Pakistan’s middle order, and they are addressing it, but Iftikhar Ahmed has papered over the cracks for the time being. Whenever he does play – it’s exceptional. They made a lot of runs and then with the new ball came Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf – they were all over Nepal. This is understandable as they are an inexperienced side but they must be thinking that they could have done better,” Aakash Chopra concluded.

Pakistan batter Iftikhar Ahmed scored the fourth-fastest hundred in the history of the Asia Cup. The 32-year-old scored his maiden hundred in the 50-over format of the game, as he struck an unbeaten 109 runs off 71 balls and he will look to continue his form going into the game against India on Saturday.