Former Pakistan cricketer turned commentator Ramiz Raja commented on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s seeming inability to face spinners at the start of his innings and advised him to make a comeback with a ‘hundred’.
In what has been nothing short of a disappointing outing for the Pakistan skipper in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, Babar has scored a meagre 216 runs at an average of 30.85 with three half-centuries to his name.
In this WC campaign, what seems to have been Babar’s Achilles Heel is spin. bowling. The stats speak for themselves when upon inspection, one can find that Babar has been dismissed 5 out 7 times this tournament, to the likes of spinners such as Colin Ackermann, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Noor Ahmad, Tabraiz Shamsi, and Adam Zampa.
READ: ‘Good to See Him Play His Natural Game’: Babar Azam Lauds Fakhar Zaman’s Knock as Pakistan Rout Bangladesh
Hence, Ramiz talking to Star Sports suggested Babar to play sweep shots to counter spinners on the turning track, “If you want to find fault in his batting, it’s his batting against spin upfront when he starts the innings. He is not fluent as he is when he is facing pace, said Ramiz.
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,” he added.
Babar’s struggle against spinners is a major setback for the Pakistan team, who are facing a lack of consistent quality batting performances from the top-order in the ongoing World Cup. Ramiz feels that getting out in such a manner leads to flattering of confidence as a batter.
“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,” he stated.
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“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,” Ramiz added.
Pakistan with their third win of the tournament against Bangladesh by seven wickets on Tuesday have gone fifth on the points table with their semis qualification still alive.
Pakistan will next face New Zealand on Saturday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
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