Shoaib Malik tips Babar Azam as the next big hope of Pakistan cricket

Veteran Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik was instrumental in seeing his side take a 1-0 lead in the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka. Malik hit a brisk 81 off just 61 deliveries to help Pakistan post 292 on the board in the first ODI. In response, Sri Lanka crumbled to 209/8. Malik was handed the Man of the Match for his performance.

The former cricketer, however, was in awe of Babar Azam after the game. Azam hit a crucial 103 in the match – his 6th ODI ton. In the post match press conference, as per the quotes in brecorder.com, Shoaib Malik called Babar as the ‘great hope’ of Pakistan cricket. He mentioned that he would love to see Azam score runs in the longest format of the game as well.

“I would want to see him scoring runs in Test cricket also, he has been working hard and he is our great hope. The way he is going in his career, I would say he is an exceptional talent,” quoted Shoaib Malik.

Crediting Azam, Hafeez for the win

Prior to the commencement of the ODI series, Babar Azam was in the firing range for not having scored runs in the Test series. He rightly announced his comeback to form with a ton in the match. At the post match presentation, Malik had shared his words of appreciation for Azam as well. He had credited Azam and Mohammad Hafeez for having batted sensibly in the innings.

“I guess, in the middle overs, they were bowling well. I kept rotating strike and that was my plan. Credit to Babar – the way he batted and also Hafeez. Bowlers then finished it up. Being an experienced player, it’s your responsibility to bat through the innings. My goal was to keep rotating singles and I upped the ante towards the end,” Malik had quoted.