"Naturally Not An Opener": Mohammad Azharuddin's Big Statement On Babar Azam

After facing defeats against Australia in ODI series and England in the T20Is and Tests, Pakistan registered yet another loss at the home soil against New Zealand in the recently concluded ODIs. Skipper Babar Azam, who scored 66 and 79 runs in the first two matches, has been facing severe criticism from the fans and experts for his style of batting. As Pakistan had a forgettable run in their recent outing, many questions have also been raised on Babar's captaincy. However, former India skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has a very different opinion on the 28-year-old batter.

Azharuddin stated that Babar is not a natural opener and should bat at No 4, as it would be really beneficial for the team. 

“Pakistan have two important openers - Rizwan and Babar. In the last big tournament, Babar was dismissed lbw a lot of times. These are the things you need to think of. If you are not getting runs at the top of the order then you should bat at No.3 or 4 and it would benefit Pakistan as well. You need to change your strategy because he is naturally not an opener," Azharuddin told media ahead of the International League T20 match.

Regarding Babar's captaincy, Azharuddin said that it is too soon to judge his leadership skills and the batter should be given some more time.

“Every person takes time to learn. How long has it been? 1-2 years? Give him some time. It is not easy to judge captaincy is such a short time,” he said.

New Zealand registered a two-wicket win over Pakistan in the third and final ODI on Friday at the National Stadium in Karachi.

With this win, the visitors also claimed the three-match ODI series 2-1, which is also their maiden ODI series win in Pakistan. 

Topics mentioned in this article

Pakistan Cricket Team New Zealand Cricket Team India Cricket Team Mohammad Azharuddin Babar Azam Cricket