Pakistan team needs more players like Babar Azam: Zaheer Abbas

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Pakistan batting great Zaheer Abbas believes that the Men in Green needs more players like Babar Azam inorder to become a competitive side in world cricket.

While speaking to Cricket Pakistan in an exclusive interview, Abbas was satisfied with Azam’s performance in the recently concluded Test series against England.

“Babar did fairly well in the Test series and looked confident while he was batting,” said Abbas. “I hope Pakistan produces more players like Babar Azam so that the pressure is not entirely on one player.”

Abbas, who is also known as the Asian Bradman, was disappointed to see Pakistan lose the Test series against England and especially the first match.

“Pakistan should have won the first Test after taking a first innings lead of more than 1o0 runs. I was extremely disappointed to see Pakistan lose that match,” he said. “I won’t take names but Pakistan team made mistakes and had to pay for it in the end.”

“Pakistan team lacks consistency which is a big hurdle on the way to becoming one of the best teams in the world. We don’t want to be known as a team which only performs well against weak opposition,” he added. 

He also shared his thoughts on Azhar Ali’s future as Test captain. 

“This is board’s decision to continue Azhar as captain. After playing so much cricket, Azhar should be mature by now and understand the importance of scoring runs and leading from front as it will have a positive impact on the entire team,” he said.

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Abbas also backed middle-order batsman Asad Shafiq, who failed miserably during the series, to come good with if he made a slight technical adjustment.

“Asad has a good technique but, like most players, he is weak on the balls moving away from him. He needs to make a slight adjustment in his stance by keeping his shoulder towards the bowler rather than being chest-on as it could make a huge difference,” he said.

Abbas was also happy to be inducted in the ICC Hall of Fame, after recently becoming the sixth player from Pakistan to bag that honour. 

“It is a big honour for me as well as Pakistan. I was hopeful was being inducted in this list eight or nine years ago but everything happens for a reason and I’m still very happy,” he concluded.