My expectations for Babar Azam are the same as I had with Imran Khan: Ramiz Raja

PCB’s new chairman Ramiz Raja has given his opinions about Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and stated that it’s ‘too early’ for him to assess his overall potentials. Raja added that he has the same expectations from Babar Azam as he saw with the World Cup-winning skipper of Pakistan Imran Khan. It has to be noted that Raja’s words came after he unanimously got elected as the 36^th chairman of PCB for three years.

Raja further went on to talk about Azam and added that it is of huge importance that he gets to know Babar first and his new role before making a statement on him. It is known that Azam is regarded as one of the finest batters of the modern-day era. He has been handling the team very well for quite some time but many believe that he is yet to prove himself as a skipper.

“It’s too early for me to assess him. It’s important for me to know him better. It’s similarly important for me to understand the role. You (as captain) tend to make many demands, some good but others which you need to make a persuasive case for,” said Raja as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

I want a leadership like the one I played under in my era, Ramiz Raja told Babar Azam

Talking further about his conversation with the Pakistan skipper, Raja said that he told to Azam that if he doesn’t have 400 autograph hunters outside the academy, then his objective to ply cricket has failed. He made the young cricketer clear that he expects the same captaincy class from him as he had during his era. Raja played under World Cup-winning skipper Imran Khan who is now the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

“I did a couple of sessions with him and told him that if you don’t have 400 autograph hunters outside the academy then the whole objective to play cricket has failed.

“I want a leadership like the one I played under in my era. My expectations for Babar are the same as I had with Imran Khan,” added Raja.