Sohail calls on youngsters to emulate Babar

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Cricket365
September 23, 2017

Former Pakistan skipper Amir Sohail has called on the young players to follow the example of middle-order batsman Babar Azam.

Dubbed the ‘Virat Kohli of Pakistan’ there is little dispute that Babar is the best batsmen of his generation in the country at the moment in the shorter formats.

Sohail wrote in his blog on PakPassion.net: “I am really impressed by what have I seen of Babar Azam so far. What he has shown in such a short period of time in his Limited Overs career is that by simply playing one risky shot and then rotating the strike for the rest of the over he is able to build a good innings for himself and help his team too.”

The former opener was impressed by Babar’s ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over and rotating the strike.

He added: “This has made him more consistent and reliable as well. In my view, all young players in Pakistan side need to emulate Babar Azam as singles are most important if you wish to survive at the international level for a long time and a prerequisite to becoming a reliable batsman.”

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Sohail feels that opener Ahmed Shehzad needs to be more consistent in his performances to establish himself in international cricket.

He said: “Ahmed Shehzad had a very good series against the World XI and it’s good to see was included in the training camp for the upcoming Test series against Sri Lanka. However, as I know from personal experience, to establish himself again in the line-up, Ahmed Shehzad will need to go back to his normal game. But some things he has to really improve upon are taking singles, rotating the strike and playing off the back-foot.

“I feel he can make an impact in the Pakistan Limited Overs side if he can work on these issues and as far as a Test return is concerned, I do not see him displacing any of the established openers such as Azhar Ali and Shan Masood but then playing in the UAE has never been a great challenge for the batsmen.

“Players like Ahmed Shehzad can manage against the pace and lateral movement on offer on UAE pitches but the real challenge is playing in non-subcontinental conditions and we will need to reserve judgement on him until he has demonstrated his skills under those conditions.”