Babar Azam unbeaten gritty half-century on the first day of the ongoing first Test match against England has left everyone to praise him. Former England cricketer Nasser Hussain and other cricket experts have applauded his resilient 69 runs at Old Trafford which came against the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer. However, Ramiz Raja, former Pakistan cricketer, has found faults in Babar’s technique which according to him, might cost him further in the three-match series.

Babar Azam stitched 96 runs partnership with the opening batsman Shan Masood after the captain Azhar Ali left Pakistan at 43 for two. In the rain-curtailed match, the visitors ended the day with 139 runs on the board.

Ramiz Raja on Babar Azam’s Manchester innings:

Babar Azam is known for delivering eye-soothing cover drives but Ramiz finds fault in playing that shot. While speaking on his Youtube channel, he noted that Babar was facing the ball with open shoulders which would prevent him from playing his drives.

“When that is happening it means that your head position isn’t right. The head is not locked in with the shoulder. When you open yourself up in that manner, facing the outswinger becomes problematic. This means that your drives will stop connecting,” Ramiz said on his Youtube channel.

Azhar Ali should be more relaxed: Ramiz

Ramiz Raja believes that Pakistan’s Test captain Azhar Ali is over-analyzing his performance both as a batsman as well as a player. He added that Ali should not take much pressure and should be relaxed.

“He is over-analysing all aspects whether it is batting or captaincy. He should be more relaxed. It is important to switch on and off for a captain. You have to be turned on when the action is happening but you have to take a bit of time out when the action stops. He puts too much pressure on himself,” Ramiz said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is playing the first Test since the outbreak of the coronavirus. They last played a Test match against Bangladesh in February at home.