Akhtar advices Babar to learn from Azam Khan

Former Pakistan pacer, Shoaib Akhtar, heaps praise on Islamabad United wicketkeeper-batter Azam Khan, calling him "captaincy material" for Pakistan. 

In an exclusive interview with a local media news channel, Akhtar stated that he was impressed with Khan's responsible approach to building innings and his smart interview skills.

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“I found Azam Khan as a responsible guy who can build the innings, not just slog. He also spoke smartly in the interview, and it felt nice to hear him speak like that as he talked about his performance," he said.

"When I was playing 20 years ago, I didn’t care how I spoke. But in today’s era, being in media is a part of your job. I can only indicate and pinpoint for you, ‘this is a problem; please go and correct it. It’s for your own benefit. He (Azam) looked like captaincy material with how he spoke,” Akhtar added.

He compared Azam to some of the legendary Pakistan players of the past, such as Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzaq, who were known for their ability to dominate the game and the crowd.

“When Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shahid Afridi, and Abdul Razzaq used to play, they would say, ‘the whole ground and its crowd is mine. I control the atmosphere in this place. And Azam was controlling that. That’s how you become a star," he said.

"It’s not just about winning ICC Player of the Year awards, no, no. The things Azam did… crowd backed him, and he took their ownership. He was like, ‘I’m here to run the show,’” Shoaib concluded.

Previously, Rawalpindi express had slammed Babar Azam’s communication skills in a recent interview with a local TV channel.

Former cricketer said that current cricketers need to be media savvy, in order to further their brand image.

"Cricket is one job and handling media is another job. If you can’t speak, I am sorry but you won’t be able to express yourself on the TV,” Akhtar said.

"I want to openly say this that Babar Azam should be the biggest brand of Pakistan, but why he hasn’t become the biggest brand in Pakistan? Because he can’t speak,” he added.