I talk a lot to Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson and Joe Root, have learned a lot from these players: Babar Azam

Pakistan captain Babar Azam revealed talking to Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root about batting techniques as he tries to pick their head to get better in the game. The 29-year-old is currently going through a tough phase as under his leadership, Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup and later were eliminated from the group stage of the T20 World Cup.

His batting form too has dropped and there has been constant criticism about his leadership capability. However, he will take a break from leadership duties now as Shan Masood will lead the side in the Test series against Bangladesh and England. In the meantime, Babar can solely focus on his batting. In the last red-ball series against Australia, Babar made just 126 runs in three matches, as Pakistan lost the series 0-3.

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Ahead of the series against Bangladesh, which is slated to begin on August 21, Babar talked about his learnings from Kohli, Kane, and Root.

“I always talk to, Kane (Williamson), (Joe) Root, and Virat (Kohli) to learn about their mindset and approach towards the game and also their self-belief. They are always ready to give you advice which helps you a lot,” Babar said on AB de Villiers’ YouTube channel.

Babar also talked about his struggles before joining the Pakistan team. The Pakistan captain mentioned that his family didn’t always have money but his parents supported him in whichever way they could and also talked about his first interaction with a leather ball.

“I don't come from a rich family, and we didn't have money all the time. But my parents supported me a lot. I used to play street cricket growing up, and playing cricket with a hard ball was very difficult,” Babar said.

Meanwhile, Babar’s captaincy in white-ball cricket remains under scrutiny. There are talks of Shaheen Shah Afridi taking over but the team management hasn’t finalized anything.