Pakistan ODI captain Babar Azam is currently among the rising star in cricket world.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain feels the world is missing out on a great sporting rivalry between India and Pakistan because of political tension. He also pointed out how rising talent like Babar Azam has to stay away from a popular tournament like the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Nasser compared India vs Pakistan's cricket clash with a famous football rivalry between Manchester City and Manchester United in the English Premier League.
“I don’t want to get into the politics of it but India and Pakistan not playing each other are like the Premier League with Manchester City not playing Manchester United, or Everton-Liverpool or Spurs and Arsenal”, Hussain said.
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Babar Azam is one of the top-rated batsmen in the world currently. He has also taken over Pakistan's captaincy in ODIs at the age of 25.
“It’s the Pakistani players not being in the IPL. The IPL will start soon and Babar Azam won’t be there. He’s a phenomenal player and he should be there,” Hussain told Geo Super.
Nasser wants to rename the popular 'Fab 4' which includes Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root to 'Fab 5' and added Babar into it.
“They keep going on about the ‘Fab Four' (Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson, and England captain Joe Root) — it’s the ‘Fab Five’ and Babar Azam is in that”, the ex-England captain said.