'Babar Azam has shown the world his class and pedigree'- Shahid Afridi

There are a few things in life for which you can stop whatever you are doing! The sight of Babar Azam creaming those cover-drives and extra-cover drives falls into that category. It might be all doom and gloom for Pakistan on their ongoing tour of Australia but the biggest positive that has come out from this nightmarish is the evolution of Babar Azam- the Test batsman.

Babar- a premier white-ball batsman and the current No.1 ranked T20I batter in the world- was the biggest talking point leading into the Test match series in Australia. Will he take another stride towards becoming one of the premier Test match batsmen in the world? Will he counter the obscure Australian conditions and face the likes of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins? Will he score a Test hundred on Australian soil? 

He didn’t just score a century but courtesy his compact technique and sumptuous stroke play, successfully shrugged off all his detractors who questioned his Test match credentials. Azam, who scored his maiden ton on Australian soil at the Gabba missed out by three runs at the Adelaide Oval when he nicked one of Mitchell Starc, ending his vigil at 97.

Shahid Afridi heaps praise on Babar Azam

But, that hasn’t stopped him from garnering praises from fans as well as former cricketers across the world. Former Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi joined the bandwagon when he posted a congratulatory tweet. Afridi congratulated Babar by writing, ”Babar Azam has shown the world his class and pedigree, was mere 3 runs away from a special feat of back to back 100s in Australia. Pakistan batsmen can learn so much from him especially his ability to keep things simple and above all his hard work and determination.’

Azam was involved in a 105-run seventh-wicket partnership with Yasir Shah. But, unlike him, his partner Yasir Shah did not miss out on the opportunity and racked up his maiden three-figure score in First-Class cricket. The duo’s partnership lent some respect to Pakistan’s first innings total, but it didn’t do enough for them to save the follow-on.

Australia enforced the follow-on and unlike the first innings, this time they got Babar Azam cheaply and have already reduced the visitors to 3-39.

Babar Azam has shown the world his class and pedigree, was mere 3 runs away from a special feat of back to back 100s in Australia. Pakistan batsmen can learn so much from him especially his ability of keeping things simple and above all his hard work and determination 1/2

— Shahid Afridi (@SAfridiOfficial) December 1, 2019