‘Babar Azam is the most in-form batter right now’: Daniel Vettori

Babar Azam's staggering record in international cricket has been acknowledged by many and former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is the latest member to join the bandwagon.

Babar Azam has risen to be one of the most outstanding talent with the bat and in the era, which has largely been dominated by the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the Pakistan skipper has went on to carve a name for himself. 

Pakistan's skipper Babar Azam poses for photograph with a vehicle he was awarded with in Lahore.(AP/File)

His staggering record in international cricket has been acknowledged by many and former New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is the latest member to join the bandwagon. 

In a recent Q&A session on ESPNCricinfo, Vettori picked Babar when he was asked to pick the best batter at the moment. “The different formats of the game make it tough to say overall, but right now, Babar Azam is the most in-form batter on the back of his series against Australia,” said the ex-Kiwi international.  

In Australia's recent tour to the country, where both the sides lock horns in all the three formats, Babar dictated the show with the bat and also scored a match-saving 196 in the fourth innings of the second Test and denied the visitors from winning the contest. 

Batting at an average of 78, the right-handed batter accumulated 390 runs from five innings. He maintained the same tempo when the action shifted from red-ball to white an amassed 276 runs in 3 ODIs, which also saw him hit two centuries. 

In the one-off T20I, the Pakistan captain scored 66 runs. “Glad that we don't have to bowl to Babar anymore,” Australia captain Aaron Finch had then remarked at the post-match presentation ceremony, which the visitors won to end the tour on a high.

Babar is also the ranked one batter in ODI and T20I rankings. In Tests, the 27-year-old is ranked fifth behind Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root.