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'Close your eyes... take a wild swing': Wasim Akram shares hilarious advice for Babar Azam while facing spinners
Babar, who endured a miserable T20 Asia Cup earlier this month, roared back to form and hit five sixes and 11 fours off 66 balls versus England on Thursday.
Babar Azam hit a brilliant century – his second in T20 Internationals – to drive Pakistan to a crushing 10-wicket win over England in the second T20 International in Karachi on Thursday. Babar, who endured a miserable T20 Asia Cup earlier this month, roared back to form and hit five sixes and 11 fours off 66 balls. He put on a record-breaking double-century opening stand with Mohammad Rizwan, who hit 88 not out.
Babar came into the game on the back of only 98 runs in his previous seven T20s, including 68 in six Asia Cup games in the UAE. Along with Rizwan, Babar charged against the English opposition that was unsuccessful in breaking the opening stand.
Legendary Wasim Akram, who spoke about Babar's aggressive batting, had some hilarious advice up his sleeve. "I'll tell Babar what I used to do when I didn't understand a spinner... close your eyes, clear the front foot and take a wild swing towards mid-wicket," the bowling great said in a video shared by A Sports.
Babar's ton came off just 62 balls, adding to his 122 against South Africa at Centurion last year. His unconquered stand with Rizwan was the pair's seventh 100-run partnership together in T20I cricket, as Pakistan reached 203-0 with three balls to spare to level the seven-game series.
The duo also silenced the critics, with both batters scoring at a brisk rate throughout their innings. Babar and Rizwan also held the previous record of Pakistan's 197-run, opening-wicket stand, which they made versus South Africa in 2021.
Chasing an imposing 200-run total, Babar (110*) and Rizwan (88*) were gung-ho against the opposition bowlers at a packed National Stadium.
"We had done it in the past so we had the belief that we can do it again," said Babar, whose side successfully chased down third 200-plus target. "It was easier batting second under lights and Rizwan was superb so we did it together and that is a very confidence-boosting win," he added.
