Shoaib Akhtar cites Babar Azam's example to prove street smartness of Pakistan cricketers

On Monday, Shoaib Akhtar uploaded a video of Babar Azam trying to prove why Pakistan cricketers are street smart and where it comes from. The former Pakistan pacer posted the clip of Babar Azam playing indoor cricket at his house and a subsequent clip of him playing an outrageous shot against South Africa in the recently concluded T20I series. 

In the video, in the first part of it, we see Babar Azam trying to play a shot while playing indoor cricket. In this bit, the ball is pitched under his bat as the batsman tries to send it past the keeper. As the video moves forward, we see that a similar kind of shot was tried by the Pakistan skipper against South Africa. 

In this clip, we see that a South African bowler delivered a yorker at the stumps during a T20I match. Babar very expertly gets his bat underneath the ball and gently guides it past the wicketkeeper. The shot was quite magnificent and difficult to execute given how full the yorker was by the bowler. 

Shoaib Akhtar lauds Babar for his innovation

Along with the video which was uploaded, Shoaib Akhtar added a caption noting that the smartness which Pakistan cricketers possess comes from playing the game on the streets or indoor. He noted that this type of cricket brings out innovation in players. “When we say Pakistani cricketers are street smart. This is where the street smartness comes from. Indoor cricket, gully cricket, backyard cricket. This teaches us innovation! #cricket #pakistan #streetsmart.”

When we say Pakistani cricketers are street smart. This is where the street smartness comes from. Indoor cricket, gully cricket, backyard cricket. This teaches us innovation! #cricket #pakistan #streetsmart pic.twitter.com/r25qRq6i7J

— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) April 18, 2021

Babar Azam recently claimed the No. 1 ICC ODI rankings for batsmen. He became only the fourth Pakistan batsman to get to this achievement. The Pakistan skipper dethroned Virat Kohli, who had the No. 1 position to himself for more than 1200 days. He achieved this feat after his team defeated South Africa in the ODI series 2-1. 

The Pakistan team also won the four-match T20I series against the Proteas by a margin of 3-1, dominating the hosts. The shot which was seen in that video was played by Azam during the T20I series when he scored 122 runs from 59 balls in the third game in Centurion.

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