Babar hopes to regain batting form in England T20IS, Ali returns to his roots
KARACHI: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam said Monday that he hopes a seven-match series against England starting in Karachi this week will help him return to his best scoring form, ater a lean Asia Cup earlier this month.
The 27-year-old managed just 68 runs in six games in the UAE, where Pakistan finished runners-up to Sri Lanka.
England are on their first tour of Pakistan for 17 years, in a series seen as part of the build-up towards next month’s men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia.
“I hope to return to my best in this series... and it will be good if it happens before the World Cup,” Azam told reporters on Monday.
The lean patch saw Azam dethroned as the world’s top-rated T20I batsman, ater ruling the rankings for 1,155 days, relinquishing the title to his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan last week.
Azam, who is Pakistan’s top T20I run-geter with 2,754 runs in 80 games, said he keeps things simple while bating.
“I think less about failures when going through a bad patch,” said Azam. “As a batsman your focus is to do your best to regain your form and it would be great to do that before the World Cup.”
Azam was the highest scorer in last year’s Twenty20 World Cup held in the UAE, with 303 runs in a tournament where Pakistan crashed out in the semi-finals.
Azam said the England series was a “big occasion”.
“Obviously they have come to Pakistan ater 17 years so it’s a big series and will help us build us towards the World Cup so all the players will utilise this,” he said.
The matches will be held in Karachi (September 22, 23, 25) and in Lahore (September 28, 30 and October 2). nce- es
Moeen Ali returns to his roots in Pakistan to lead England as both nations fine-tune for next
FaPmonth’s T20 World Cup.
Ali will captain England because Twenty20 skipper Jos Butler is recovering from a calf injury and is expected to play in only one or two games toward the end of the series. “Captaining England in any game, anywhere in the world, is a huge honor,” Ali said.
“Obviously, with my roots being from here and to lead England … it’s huge and it’s (a) very proud moment for me and my family, my mum and dad and everybody.”
This is England’s first tour to Pakistan since 2005.
Butler is with the squad and has been undergoing rehabilitation, but Ali said the recurring of the injury during the Hundred back home has forced the England captain to be extra careful.
“Maybe in the back end of the tour he will play one or two games, but we’re not sure yet,” Ali said.
“Obviously with the World Cup in Australia, it’s huge for us and we want him fully fit for the whole competition there.”
The T20 World Cup begins in mid-october. At least eight members of the England squad like Ali himself, Harry Brook, Alex Hales and Phil Salt have experience playing in Pakistan for various franchises in the Pakistan Super League.
That experience could come in handy for an England team that is without its key T20 World Cup player Ben Stokes.
Fast bowlers Mark Wood and Chris Woakes are returning to the team ater being sidelined for most of the summer because of injuries. Jonny Bairstow was ruled out of the T20 World Cup due to freak injury while playing golf while out-of-form Jason Roy was dropped both for the tour of Pakistan and the T20 World Cup.
Despite so many injury problems, Ali still believes England has enough firepower to challenge a strong Pakistan team that recently lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup.
“The only person I think that’s not here is Ben Stokes from the guys who could be here,” Ali said.
“Throughout the summer we had injuries, but it gives good opportunities for new players to come in.”