Is Babar the new Miandad?
sharjah — Babar Azam’s phenomenal rise in the one-day format has taken the world by storm. The 23-year-old Azam (ODIs 35, runs 1,758, 100s 7, average 58.60, strike rate 85.88) has hit two match-winning centuries in the first two matches of the ongoing series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.
In the fourth match of the fivegame Q Mobile series against the Lankans in Sharjah on Friday, Pakistan, chasing 174, were in a bit of trouble after losing three wickets with just 58 runs on the board. But Azam stepped up and played another majestic innings (69 not out, 101 balls, 5 fours) and his unbroken 119-run partnership with the veteran Shoaib Malik (69 not out, 2 fours, 3 sixes) took Sri Lanka a step closer to their second successive whitewash in a oneday series.
Later in the post-match press conference, a Sri Lankan journalist was so impressed with Azam’s progress that he asked captain Sarfraz Ahmed if the right-handed batsman was the new Javed Miandad in Pakistan cricket.
“No, we are not talking about that in the dressing room,” Sarfraz smiled. “See players like Javed Miandad are legends of the game. We have some other big legends as well in Pakistan. But yes, Babar Azam is a very special player for us and he has been performing so well with the bat. Hopefully he will continue to perform like this and become a legend for Pakistan in future.”
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com