Rashid Latif reckons Haider Ali can become the next Babar Azam of Pakistan

Babar Azam, the right-handed batsman from Pakistan is the number one T20I batsman for quite some time now. He is one of the gems in the making, who has hogged the spotlight in the last couple of years with his skilful batting. There is no doubt that Pakistan has produced several world-class batsmen and Babar Azam is one of them. Now, Rashid Latif, the former Pakistan cricketer, has seen shades of Babar Azam in young Haider Ali who is playing for Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing PSL edition.

Babar is a technically sound batsman, who is usually compared with some of the best in the business like Virat Kohli and Steve Smith. In the year 2019, he muscled 374 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 41.56 in the T20Is. The interesting thing is that he smacked four half-centuries in away conditions. Currently, he is playing for Karachi Kings in the PSL where he is the leading run-scorer for his team with 117 runs in four games with one fifty.

Haider Ali setting the stage on fire

Meanwhile, there is Haider Ali making his name as one of the most exciting prospects in Pakistan. Playing for Peshawar Zalmi, he has played some small but match-defining knocks with the bat consistently. He has registered scores of 25, 47 and 34 runs in his three outings. The right-hander is turning the tables for his team with his quickfire knocks. So far, he has mustered a total of 110 runs in four games at an amazing strike rate of 157.14.

On Friday, Peshawar Zalmi locked horns with Lahore Qalandars in a game in which Haider Ali played a swift knock of 34 runs off 12 balls studded with four sixes and one boundary. He turned out to be the main reason behind Zalmi’s 16-run victory over Qalandars in a rain-affected game.

Rashid Latif was impressed with Haider Ali and after looking at him bat, he felt that the youngster has the abilities to become the next version of Babar Azam at the highest level. He also asked his fans about the same taking to his official Twitter handle and wrote,” Haider Ali could be Next Babar Azam? #PzvsLQ #PSL2020.”

Here’s the tweet:

Haider Ali could be Next Babar Azam ? #PzvsLQ #PSL2020 @TheHBLPSL #TayyarHain

— Rashid Latif راشد لطیف 🇵🇰 (@iRashidLatif68) February 28, 2020