Babar Azam yet to prove himself as match-winner: Shahid Afridi

Former Pakistan cricketer, Shahid Afridi, shared his thoughts on Babar Azam's performance as a match-winning player and about being remembered among the great batters in world cricket. 

In a recent interview with a local media channel, Afridi praised the-28-year-old for being the number one player in the world and stated that in order to be a match winner, he has to finish the game.

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"No doubt, Babar is the number one player in the world, and he is the pride of the Pakistan cricket team. However, one thing that stops him from being named along with the likes of AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli is finishing [games]. Babar has not yet proved himself as a match-winner," said Afridi.

Previously, in 2020, Pakistan’s all-format captain Babar responded to criticism from former cricketers regarding his ability to finish matches.

In his interview with Cricket Pakistan, Azam said that he is trying to improve as a match-finisher to improve this aspect of the game.

“I agree that when a player is set, he should finish the match. I wasn’t able to finish the match against Zimbabwe despite scoring hundred, and I think we lost that match because of me. But, I’m trying to improve this part of my batting, which was also evident in PSL, and hopefully, in the future, I won’t repeat the same mistake,” said Azam.