Ramiz Raja concerned about Babar Azam's performance against spin

Former Pakistan cricketer Ramiz Raja has expressed concerns about Babar Azam's performance against spin bowling in the ongoing ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. 

Ramiz's comments followed Babar's recent performance against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where he was dismissed for only nine runs by Mehidy Hasan. 

While talking to Star Sports, Ramiz suggested that Babar should consider incorporating the sweep shot into his repertoire, especially when facing quality spin bowling on slower pitches.

“If you want to find fault in his batting, it’s his batting against spin upfront when he starts the innings. He is not as fluent as he is when he is facing pace. I don’t know whether it’s his footwork, whether it’s in his mind, or whether he doesn’t have too many options because he doesn’t play the sweep shot. On slow pitches, you need to play the sweep shot,” Ramiz said.

Ramiz further emphasized that Babar needs to work on his ability to score consistently when facing both pace and spin, using his dismissal against Afghanistan as an example. 

“Every time he has been aggressive, he’s gotten out as well. Against Afghanistan, he hit a massive six and then got out just at the wrong time. So, the confidence builds and it goes flat. All he needs to do is work his way through to a hundred where he faces pace, spin, and feels comfortable about his role. He is not entirely out of touch, he is still middling the ball, but it’s that when he begins his innings against spin, he looks just a little bit jittery,” he concluded.

Babar has been dismissed by spinners in five out of seven games during the tournament. He has scored a total of 216 runs, including three half-centuries, at an average of 30.85.