Youngsters should follow Babar Azam: Aamir Sohail

Former Pakistani opener Aamir Sohail reckons youngsters in Pakistan should take Babar Azam as a role model and follow his footsteps. The youngster has been a revelation in the Pakistani contingent, creating a great image for himself as a match-winner.

They always had great fast bowlers and spinners but in the batting department, they had no influential figures who could promise big runs almost every time like Virat Kohli, David Warner or Steve Smith. But Babar Azam has been doing a fantastic job across all formats and a lot of experts feel he can be Pakistan’s Virat Kohli.

Aamir Sohail reckons Babar Azam has shown great maturity and consistency in a short period of time. He said that the 22-year-old approach has been really impressive as he barely tries any risky shots and opts to rotate the strike often and play the second fiddle, if necessary.

“I am really impressed by what have I seen of Babar Azam so far. What he has shown in such a short period of time in his Limited Overs career is that by simply playing one risky shot and then rotating the strike for the rest of the over he is able to build a good innings for himself and help his team too,” said Sohail, in a blog on PakPassion.net.

He has the skills to become the backbone of the batting order

Despite saying it’s too early to come to a conclusion about him, Aamir Sohail believes Babar Azam can be the backbone of Pakistani batting line-up in the time to come. Nevertheless, he appreciated the youngster’s ability to rotate strike regularly and build a good innings without opting for many big shots.

“This has made him more consistent and reliable as well. In my view, all young players in Pakistan side need to emulate Babar Azam as singles are most important if you wish to survive at the international level for a long time and a prerequisite to becoming a reliable batsman,” He said.

“However, I would say that it’s still too early to say that he has all the skills needed at this time to become the backbone of Pakistan’s batting order,” he concluded.