Babar Azam’s style of play reminds me of Zaheer Abbas: Javed Miandad

Javed Miandad, the former Pakistan cricketer, reckons that Babar Azam’s style of play is pretty reminiscent of the legendary Zaheer Abbas. Babar recently scored his fifth Test ton against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. He notched 143 runs off 193 balls and guided his side to a 1-0 lead in the two-match series with a victory by an innings and 44 runs.

It also turned out to be his fourth ton in his last five matches. The game where he didn’t get a ton in between against Australia, he ended with 97 runs. The stupendous form has helped him break into the top five of the ICC’s Test rankings for batsmen. Miandad feels that Babar needs to work on his technique a wee bit while playing in overseas conditions.

“Babar is a great talent and the way he plays is just like that of former test cricketer Zaheer Abbas. He just needs to tune himself a bit when playing on foreign tours according to the wickets there,”  Miandad was quoted as saying on his YouTube Channel. Abbas had played 78 Tests and 62 ODIs for Pakistan, scoring in excess of 7,600 runs with 19 centuries and 33 half-centuries.

Miandad’s advice for Naseem Shah

Miandad also had words of praises for the 16-year-old Naseem Shah, who picked up a four-wicket haul in the second innings of the Rawalpindi Test. “Naseem Shah is a talented lad and he should be taken good care of. He just needs to improve his fitness more,” Miandad said. Naseem dismissed Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam and Mahmudullah Riyad to accomplish the milestone.

Moreover, Miandad had a suggestion for the Bangladesh team ahead of the second Test, starting April 5 in Karachi. He feels that the Tigers should bring players from the victorious U19 team to groom them for the future. “Bangladesh should bring youngsters from its under19 team who recently won the World Cup for the next test match against Pakistan, to groom them,” he added.

The U19 team, captained by Akbar Ali, won the U19 World Cup in South Africa. The Junior Tigers beat India by three wickets (DLS Method) in the final at the Senwes Park in Potchefstroom and won their first ever world title.