Former Pakistan all-rounder Mudassar Nazar believes that the England Test series would be Babar Azam's final frontier to test his batting abilities and if the white-ball captain manages to score well in the upcoming series, then no one will be able to catch him.
Pakistan team is currently in England, preparing for the three-match Test series and as many as T20Is with the tour gets underway with the first Test on August 5 at The Old Trafford.
Nazar believes that Pakistan’s premier batsman Babar – who has already established himself in the limited-overs format, must get going under testing conditions in England and show his brilliancy in the whites to prove himself as giant across the formats of the modern era.
Mudassar told Cricket Pakistan: “England is the final test for Babar Azam. Although he has toured England before, he hasn’t been tested properly yet. If he scores here, then no one will be able to catch him. The way he is dominating bowlers these days, if he does the same in England then no one will be able to catch him.”
He further explained, “Babar had a weak point that he used to drive the ball wide outside off-stump, which is a natural weakness in batsmen who grow up playing on Pakistani pitches. But in recent times, he has started playing late and has a great grip on the bat. In South Africa as well, Babar dominated Dale Steyn, who is famous for his outswing. I think he will perform well in England as his confidence is very high right now.”
The former all-rounder and former cricket coach also feel that Misbah-ul-Haq will have to resign as Pakistan head coach or chief selector “at some stage”.
Mudassar signed off by saying, “Misbah has put himself in a difficult situation by accepting too many roles. He should have only accepted the head coach role if he wanted a coaching position. At some stage, he will have to let go [of] one of the positions.”
(With Cricket Pakistan Inputs)
