West Indian batting maestro Shivnarine Chanderpaul has described Babar Azam as a world-class batter and advised the Pakistani captain to play as freely as possible to relieve himself of all the pressure.

The West Indian cricketer heaped praise on Azam in an exclusive interview with a local media channel in Sydney following his induction into the ICC Hall of Fame.

ALSO READ: "Don't want to see an India-Pakistan World Cup final," says Jos Buttler

Azam's form, in particular, is concerning, with the opener scoring only 39 runs in five T20 World Cup matches.

“His skill is one of those with the highest standards, and I hope he can maintain that. He was able to perform in every condition he played in. He needs to be focused on what he's been doing and keep trying to do his job as well as he can,” he said

When asked what advice he would give Babar Azam, who is trying to regain his form, the West Indian cricketer stated that he does not believe Babar is struggling.

“Sometimes you get runs, and sometimes you don't get right. So, what you don't want to do is make those things linger in your mind. You want to go out and play. Play as freely as you can. And remember, it's not you alone playing the cricket; there's always your teammates around you, and add no extra pressure on yourself,” he said.

“Don't think about those scores. Think about the time you performed and the time you're doing well. That is what you do when you have a couple of low scores. You always think about all the times you've been doing well. And that's all you need to focus on; stop focusing on negative things,” Chanderpaul said.