Former Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has always known to be a great admirer of batting sensation Babar Azam as well as shared a great relationship with the current T20 captain of the Men in Green and even once he called his “adopted son”.
Arthur has yet again showered rich praise on Azam, who has grabbed eyeballs with his batting show across the formats over the years, terming his hundred against New Zealand in the World Cup 2019 as “one of the best one-day innings” he has ever seen.
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During On a slow, a tricky run-chase of 238 against New Zealand at the 2019 World Cup on the slow and turning surface at Edgbaston Babar turned out a hero for Pakistan once again as his (101*) and Haris Sohail (68) helped Men in Green to cross the finishing line.
Following the memorable knock, Azam became the first Pakistan middle-order batsman to score a World Cup century in 32 years with the last one came from the bat of Saleem Malik in 1987.
Speaking exclusively to Cricingif from Sri Lanka, Arthur said: “I think his World Cup was incredible. His innings against New Zealand in the World Cup on that surface is still one of the best one-day innings I’ve ever seen. The roar when he got his hundred that went around Edgbaston that day was simply amazing. It was almost like the crowd had seen the emergence of a batting genius. That was the turning point of Babar Azam for me.”
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On Babar’s development as a Test player, the Sri Lankan head coach said: “In 2016, we knew he was a very good white ball player. He had to develop into a Test cricketer. I remember the amount of flak I used to get from the media because I continued to play Babar. I remember sitting saying whatever game I’m coaching in, be it any format of the game, Babar Azam will be selected.”
He continued, “I always knew he had the talent and skill, we just had to be very patient with him in red-ball cricket. I remember Jacques Kallis starting with South Africa and I think after ten Tests, he was averaging nine. But he was persisted with because he had that incredible talent. Ultimately, we saw what Kallis did. I think Babar Azam is going to do exactly the same.”
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(With Cricingif Inputs)
