'You are capable of scoring 200' - Shahid Afridi has a piece of advice for Babar Azam

Babar Azam further enhanced his reputation as one of the best in the world with a match-winning century against Sri Lanka in the second ODI in Karachi. While most of Pakistan batsmen have struggled for consistency in recent years, Babar Azam is an exception by a big distance. In fact, the right-handed batsman is one of the most consistent batsmen in the world right now.

He recently finished the T20 Blast as its highest run-scorer and continued the same form against Sri Lanka too. Babar scored his 11th ODI ton and became the third-fastest to that mark behind only Hashim Amla and Quinton de Kock. He is also the top-ranked T20I batsman in the world. And as the Pakistan star continues to impress, former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has come up with some words of wisdom for him.

The maverick all-rounder, who struggled for consistency throughout his international career, advised Babar to convert his starts into big knocks. Calling Babar the backbone of the Pakistan team, he said that the batsman is not a 50-plus player but has the potential to score big hundreds.

“I say to Babar Azam I want you to play long innings and you are not just a 50 runs type player, rather you are capable of scoring 100, 150 or 200. You are the backbone of the team and a consistent performer for Pakistan” said Afridi as quoted by Pakistan journalist Saj Sadiq in his tweet.

Shahid Afridi via his youtube channel "I say to Babar Azam I want you to play long innings and you are not just a 50 runs type player, rather you are capable of scoring 100, 150 or 200. You are the backbone of the team and a consistent performer for Pakistan" #Cricket

— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) October 1, 2019

Playing in county circuit helped

Babar, meanwhile, has said that playing in England domestic circuit has proved fruitful for him. The Pakistan stalwart did not take long rest after the World Cup and headed straight to England to play for Somerset. He hit the ground running in the T20 Blast, scoring 578 runs in 13 games at an average of over 50.

“The time I spent in the county game this season made a big difference,” Babar Azam said after the second ODI. “There was a lot I learned there; I went after just a week’s rest at the end of the World Cup. I played 14 matches against quality opposition, and that helped quite a lot.”

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