The Pakistan captain, Babar Azam, recently revealed that he reached out to some of the best batsmen in the world, including Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root as he looks to work on his batting skills. Under fire for a lean run, with his leadership under scrutiny after Pakistan failed to make the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup and then bowed out early from the T20 World Cup, Babar Azam revealed that he was working hard to regain his confidence. His batting form has also suffered due to which he has faced strong criticism of his leadership.
However, Babar will soon get a relief from the duties as Shan Masood will take charge of the Pakistan team for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh and England. This could just be the break Babar needs to focus on his batting alone. His recent red-ball series against Australia was poor as well, where he scored just 126 runs in the three-match series that Pakistan lost 0-3.
On the eve of the series against Bangladesh, starting August 21, Babar shared some of the things he learned from discussions with Kohli, Williamson, and Root.
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“I always talk to Kane, Root, and Virat and learn from them regarding their mindset and approach toward the game and about their self-belief. They are always ready to give an advice which helps a lot,” Babar Azam revealed during his interview with AB de Villiers’ YouTube channel.
Babar Azam said “I talk a lot to Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson & Joe Root. They are always ready to give you advice which helps you a lot. I have learned a lot from these players” 🇵🇰🇮🇳🔥🔥
[via AB De Villiers YT] pic.twitter.com/aCgKbtIaB1
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 21, 2024
While talking before he became part of the Pakistan team, he talked about how his family had to deal with financial issues and how his parents supported his cricketing ambitions when there was hardly enough money around. He also remembered how he first played cricket with a leather ball.
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“I am not from a privileged family, and we could not afford everything all the time. My parents cooperated with me enough. I played cricket in streets during my childhood, and playing cricket with the leather ball was really hard,” he said.
Meanwhile, debate persists over the fate of Babar as a white-ball captain, but with some rumors rife that Shaheen Shah Afridi might replace him, there is still no official word from the team’s management to this effect.