The former World Cup-winning captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, believes that Babar Azam, the former Pakistan captain, can draw some advice from Virat Kohli, the former leader of the Indian side, to get back his form in the longest format of the game. Recently, the batter was dropped from the squad for the second and third Test at home against England.
The struggle for the batter has been going on for a long time, as he has collected only 148 runs in eight innings of the format at an average of 18.50 and a strike rate of over 45 with the help of no half-centuries. Last year, his 204 runs in the format came at an average of 22.67. Kohli was going through the same issue in the past.
Ricky Ponting addressed that Virat’s struggle during the 2020/21 season continued for a while before he took a break from the game to make a strong comeback in the format eventually. Along with Babar, the selectors also excluded Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah from the squad.
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“The biggest challenge is how they get Babar back into their side. They’ve got to find a way to get Babar back into form and back into their [Test] team.” The Tasmania-born reflected on the ICC review.
Babar Azam to lock his training bag? Ricky Ponting drops socking advice
Later, Virat smashed a century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup 2023 and had an excellent time in the home ODI World Cup, where he finished as the leading run-getter of the tournament and went past Sachin Tendulkar to have the most ODI centuries in the game.
“You know, when you look at (Babar’s) numbers, it’s been a bit like the stuff that we were talking about with Virat [Kohli] earlier on. Sometimes – and I think Virat was on record saying this – that little bit of a break that he had, he took himself away from the game for a while to freshen up and sort out some things that he needed to sort out.” Ricky Ponting suggested.
Taking time off the game will help the Lahore-born to think widely about the game, and he could stop what he has been trying to do hard for such a long time.
“This might be, exactly, what Babar needs. Maybe Babar needs to get away for a while and stop trying too hard. Lock the kit bag away for a while, think about something else, and then hopefully come back recharged because we know at his best he’s as good as anyone going around. Hopefully, we get to see that in the back half of his career again.” Ricky Ponting highlighted.
In the first of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, Babar got a start for his 37 runs but failed to convert it to a big score and was dismissed for 37 runs. Meanwhile, the board has appointed Mohammad Rizwan as the new leader of the white-ball series.
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The leading run-scorer for Australia in ODIs and Tests is excited to watch the side under a new leader, insisting his aggression plays a role for the country.
“He’s the sort of player that I love watching. The aggressive player that takes the game on and wears his heart on his sleeve a little bit.” Ricky Ponting continued.
“I reckon you can see he gets quite emotional out on the field, out on the ground as well, which I think is a good thing. It tends to show that you care about what you’re doing and what your team’s trying to achieve.” The former Australian captain concluded.