PSL 2020: Haider Ali wants to follow footsteps of Babar Azam, not Virat Kohli

The young right-hand batsman had a fantastic season of PSL for Peshawar Zalmi.

Haider Ali | GettyPeshawar Zalmi's 19-year-old batsman Haider Ali considers Pakistan's Babar Azam and India captain Virat Kohli his inspirations. But the youngster interestingly said he would rather follow the footsteps of Babar, and not Kohli, who is now a legend of the game across all formats. 

Haider, in a Youtube video, expressed his admiration for Babar's strokes and how desperately he wants to emulate the ways of the No.1 ranked T20I batsman. 

Read Also: Shoaib Akhtar feels Haider Ali is at par or better than Babar Azam

"A batsman can never become like his role models, but can improve himself and develop shots like they play," cricketpakistan.com.pk quoted the youngster as saying. "I want to improve myself to the extent that people call me Babar Azam and not Kohli because Babar has good shots."

"I cannot become Kohli but can develop shots like him through practice. I'm Haider Ali so I can only become Haider Ali," he added.

Haider believes he has improved a lot from his interactions with Babar, who plays for Karachi Kings in the PSL. "I met Babar Azam during the first-class tournament and he gave me tips regarding my batting," he said. "We also get to learn a lot from him in the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He also supported me during PSL by boosting my confidence and advising me to keep scoring runs and leave the rest to Allah Almighty."

Ramiz Raza, the former Pakistan batsman, reckons Haider won't find any better role-models than Babar and Kohli. "Haider needs to follow the approach of Babar Azam and Virat Kohli," Ramiz said. "These two doesn’t improvise much and rely mainly on conventional shots. Haider has similar talent as Babar and Kohli, but just needs to work on his game awareness and play longer innings."

Haider's magnificent performances during this year's edition of the PSL - 239 runs in nine innings at an average of 29.87 and strike-rate of 158.27 - have led people to bat for his immediate inclusion in the national side in the T20 World Cup year. 

"The decision rests with Misbah (former skipper Misbah Ul Haq, now head coach and chief selector) bhai but I am completely ready [for the T20 World Cup]," the right-hand batsman said. "Selectors and coaches have to take the call regarding when and where a cricketer should get an opportunity but I am ready."

(Inputs from cricketpakistan.com.pk)

 
 

By Kashish Chadha - 23 Mar, 2020

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