Babar Azam’s progress can take him to the category of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith: Sarfaraz Ahmed

Babar Azam made his debut for Pakistan back in 2015 and ever since, he has carved himself a reputation as one the national team’s most reliable batters. In both ODIs and T20Is, the Lahore-born talent averages over 50 and has been a thorn in the flesh of the opponents. In Test cricket, the youngster is still finding his feet, but has 11 fifties and a century in 21 games.

The 24-year-old has now drawn appreciation from Sarfaraz Ahmed, the Pakistan skipper. The captain believes that the way Babar is making progress, he can soon be categorized with the likes of Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson and Joe Root. All the four big names are part of the Fab Four, purely on the basis of the consistent performances and Babar is not far behind.

“Babar Azam can be in that category the [of Smith, Kohli, Root and Williamson] way he is progressing. In truth, he even ranks among them now. If he can keep up his form, he’ll begin to be talked among that list by everyone very quickly,” Sarfaraz was quoted as saying in ESPNcricinfo.

Babar Azam excited to be Pakistan’s vice-captain

Babar has been appointed as the vice-captain of the Pakistan team ahead of the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Prior to the games at Karachi’s National Stadium, Babar looked pumped up. He sounded excited about his stint as the vice-captain and wants the crowd to make it a memorable day.

The run-machine took to Twitter and wrote, “Friday will be one of my biggest days when I will take the field as Pakistan vice-captain. I will want the entire country as well as the National Stadium crowd to make this a day to remember for me.”

Babar was the Men in Green’s leading run-scorer in the 2019 World Cup with a century versus New Zealand. But his performances were not enough to see Pakistan through beyond the league stage. Babar then plied his trade for Somerset in the T20 Blast in England. There, he ended as the leading run-scorer of the tournament and put on some useful partnership with fellow opener Tom Banton.

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