Shan Masood and Babar Azam.
Shan Masood and Babar Azam. Image Credit: X

Pakistan is set to begin its home season with a two-match series against Bangladesh, with the opening game of the series taking place on August 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The former red-ball captain, Babar Azam, was seen sharing a few advice regarding batting stances with their current leader, Shan Masood, during the net sessions.

The Green Brigade is at the fifth position in the current and third cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 and aims to win both the series at home, including this one, and the upcoming England three-match series in late autumn.

If they can win all five home games against these two oppositions and somehow manage to win at least one game in South Africa, they will have a great chance of finishing among the top two before the home series against West Indies at the start of the next year.

For all these to happen, they need their star batter, Babar Azam, to be among the runs, while the form of their captain, Shan Masood, will be quite essential to make sure the team remains full of confidence.

Watch: Babar Azam teaches batting stance to Shan Masood during practice session

Babar Azam didn’t enjoy a great time during their last Test series in Australia, as the batter struggled against the quality pacers. He carried the same form in the last T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).

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Under his captaincy, Pakistan made a group stage exit from the tournament, as the pressure increased on the shoulder of the veteran to come up with better performances with the bat in hand. He is touted to be the best on the national side.

In a video that has gone viral, the 29-year-old was seen teaching Shan Masood a few batting stances of going forward and backward during the recent practice session before the first Test in Rawalpindi. It felt like the former captain was teaching the batter how to go forward in a balanced way without dropping the shoulders. The purpose of this stance is generally to play the ball late, as the left-handed batter was keenly listening to all the technical advice of the experienced batter.

Babar Azam stepped down as the captain of the Test side after the end of their poor campaign in India during the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they could win only two games, while the defeat against Afghanistan defending a total at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai showed how worse they were in the whole event.

He has cracked the shortest format quite well, being the current third-highest run-getter in the world, and expects to reach the top position quite soon, given both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the top two batters on the list, have announced their retirements from the T20Is.

Also Read: Babar Azam’s Batting Position In Pakistan v Bangladesh Test Series Revealed- Report

However, Babar Azam hasn’t cracked the longest format of the game in the same fashion. In 52 games, the Lahore-born has cracked 3898 runs at an average of 45.85, celebrating 26 half-centuries and nine centuries with a best score of 196. He hasn’t registered a single fifty in the format since 2022, which is a huge concern for the management.

In the first series as captain, Shan Masood lost in Australia with a 3-0 margin, and he will look to make better progress at home, as he will have a great opportunity to register his first victory in the red-ball format as the leader of the side.