The former Pakistan spinner and the World Cup winner, Mushtaq Ahmed has backed the current captain of the national side Babar Azam to come good in the future T20Is, besides praising his skills, and feels that he also needs contributions from the rest of the players in the batting order to get the acquired result in the game.
Since the end of the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024, co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States of America (USA), many retired players have blamed Babar Azam for his slow batting, as the Pakistan side were knocked out from the group stage of the tournament, having lost their games against India and the co-host USA.
Many experts feel that the right-handed opening batter of the format for Pakistan should not only lead the team but also leave the team in this 20-over version of the game.
‘Babar Azam’s intent has changed in the past year’- Mushtaq Ahmed
The Pakistan captain Babar Azam didn’t enjoy a great World Cup with the bat in hand, as he was struggling to get the ball in touch of the blade towards the start of the competition, before finishing with 122 runs in four innings, at average of around 41, and a strike rate of 102, with a best score of 44.
Also Read: Babar Azam’s Captaincy In Danger? Mohsin Naqvi Addresses Rumours
However, the former spinner of the national team, Mushtaq Ahmed believes that the opening batter of the side has increased his pace in the last couple of years. Under Babar, the Green Brigade reached the final of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, where they became the runners-up after losing to England.
However, even in that tournament too, Azam could collect 124 runs in seven innings, at a strike rate of just over 90, and an average of over 17, with one half-century. Ahmed talked about how Babar Azam has shown aggression in his batting, besides advising him to improve in that department too.
‘Babar’s intent has definitely changed in the past year.’ Mushtaq Ahmed expressed to Cricket Pakistan. ‘He has shown aggression in his batting. If a person can improve so much, I think that’s enough.’
The veteran also shed light on how every individual player has a role to play in the line-up, and if the rest of the players don’t follow it, then there will be issues in the team.
‘Other players also have a duty to score runs; they have a role to play too. If one person gives you a score, but the rest of our players don’t go on to score in the remaining 7-8 overs, then there’s a problem.’ Ahmed added during the same chat. ‘This has been happening for 3-4 years. They (other players except Babar) only score when it doesn’t make a significant impact.’
Also Read: ‘Today Hardik Pandya Bhaiya Has Got The Result Because…’- Ishan Kishan gets emotional
The experienced former spinner of the side reflected on the fact that Babar Azam is respected around the world, and he has been a huge figure in Pakistan cricket.
‘If we talk about Babar, there’s a reason why people respect him worldwide. He brings honor to Pakistan. I think sometimes people are very hard on him.’ He remarked.
The captain of the Pakistan side is at number four in the ranking of the T20I batter, besides being the third highest run-getter of the format, at the moment, with 4145 runs in 116 innings, at an average of 41.03, and a strike rate of nearly 130, with 36 half centuries and three hundreds.