Pakistan red-ball coach Jason Gillespie shared that Babar Azam is “very close” to returning to his very best. However, he hasn’t been in the best of form of late. Since January 2023, Babar Azam has scored only 317 runs from eight Tests at an average of 21.13 with a top score of 41 as well.

In the ongoing Test series against Bangladesh, Babar Azam has scored only 64 runs which came at an average of 16 with a top score of 31. On Day 4 of the second Test in Rawalpindi, he could manage 31 runs before Shakib Al Hasan accounted for his wicket. And, Gillespie admitted that Babar hasn’t been able to convert starts, but also sounded confident that he will be amongst the runs soon as well.

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“Babar is a quality player, and he’s got a couple of starts. A bit like quite a few of our players, he hasn’t been able to convert starts. But Babar is a world-class player he’s very close, I feel it. I am really confident that we are going to see Babar scoring big runs very soon. He’s too good a player and looking forward to seeing him doing well,” Jason Gillespie said in the press conference after the day’s play.

However, Gillespie also opined on the reason why Shaheen Shah Afridi was dropped from the second Test as well. The head coach said that Pakistan wanted the pacer to be at his “very best”, bearing in mind the challenging schedule that’s ahead as well.

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“There are obviously a few things we were hoping Shaheen can work on. He’s obviously had a very eventful time in his personal life as well. So, all that are being considered, we want Shaheen Afridi to be at his very best for as much cricket as possible,” Jason Gillespie said. “He’s an all-format player and we have got a heavy schedule. We have to make sure that he’s fit and firing and is bowling at his very best so that he’s able to play as many games as possible for Pakistan.”