Pakistan’s legendary pacer Shoaib Akhtar has raised eyebrows after stating that rookie batsman Haider Ali is better than the Men in Green’s prolific batsman Babar Azam in limited-overs cricket.

Haider stole the headlines with his explosive fifty on T20I debut against England, on Tuesday, which was instrumental in Pakistan’s five-run win.

“Haider Ali is at par or even better than Babar Azam in white-ball cricket because he has the talent,” said Akhtar on his official YouTube channel. “Today you backed the right talent and he [Haider] proved you right.”

“Very well done Haider Ali, you have done a marvellous job. You are a future star and these are exactly the kind of players we need to build,” he added.

ALSO READ: Twitter reacts after Sarfaraz Ahmed’s cryptic tweet

Akhtar also urged Babar to improve his strike-rate, bearing in mind the fact that he bats in the top-order.

“Babar Azam’s strike rate is an issue which he needs to resolve,” he said. “When he comes in to bat we need his strike rate to be above 150.”

Sent into bat, Pakistan posted 190 for four in their 20 overs as Hafeez and debutant Haider Ali (54) put on 100 for the third wicket, before restricting England to 185 for eight despite a superb 61 from Moeen Ali.

Haider became the first Pakistan player to score a Twenty20 half-century on debut when he brought up his milestone from 28 deliveries and his century stand with Hafeez came off 10 overs.