Pakistan captain Babar Azam has proved out to be one of the best in the modern era of batters. At the moment, Babar is the No.1 ODI and T20I batter in ICC rankings, meanwhile, in Tests, he stands at No.3. Moreover, the only batter to be in top 3 rankings of all formats.
Now, former Sri Lanka legend Mahela Jayawardene has supported Babar Azam’s desire to be No. 1 in all forms of the game and dethrone Englishman Joe Root from No. 1 Test batter.
“I would say Babar Azam has an opportunity. He’s been consistent in all three formats and it shows in his rankings. He’s a naturally gifted player, plays in all conditions, he’s got the game to adapt as well,” Jayawardene said on the recent episode of the ICC Review.
Though, in the recent Pakistan vs Sri Lanka Test series, the Shaheens lost the second Test by a big margin. In the press conference, Babar was asked whether players like him, Mohammed Rizwan and Shaheen Shah Afridi, should give up one format for their betterment.
The skipper had an interesting answer, “It depends on your fitness. Abhi jis tarha hamari fitness hai, abhi aisa socha nahi hai ki hum do format mein aa jaye. Aapko kya lagta hai main budha ho gaya hu? ya hum budhe ho gaye hai?”
The journalist who had asked the question on fitness retorted: “Load zyada par raha hai na”. To which Azam replied: “I don’t think so. Agar load zyada hai toh us hisab se fitness badhayange hum.”
