Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif has made a bold claim and rated current skipper Babar Azam ahead of a long list of Pakistan greats. Latif, the former Pakistan captain, during his 11-year-long international career, has played with some of the greatest cricketers ever produced by the country, but feels that in terms of greatness Babar trumps them all, barring one batter. (Also Follow: IPL 2022 Full Coverage)
"I had tweeted back in 2019. We were on the tour of England. I had written everyone's name whom I had played with – Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Yousuf, Younus, Saqlain. But he is head of them all. I am talking about a long time ago. He's obviously become a big player since. We can't compare because here I'm not only talking about Babar. All these guys, Virat, Rohit, Williamson – all these cricketers who are playing ODIs, they are batting with 10 fielders," Latif said in a YouTube interaction.
Latif went on to make a big statement, calling Babar the Don Bradman and Brian Lara of this generation. The one batter however, whom Latif rated ahead of Babar and called him the greatest Pakistan batter of all time is Saeed Anwar. The former left-handed opening batter, who played 55 Tests and 247 ODIs for Pakistan, held the record for the highest individual score in ODI cricket (194 against India) for 13 years and Latif reckons a batter of Anwar’s calibre in Pakistan cricket is yet to come.
{{/usCountry}}Latif went on to make a big statement, calling Babar the Don Bradman and Brian Lara of this generation. The one batter however, whom Latif rated ahead of Babar and called him the greatest Pakistan batter of all time is Saeed Anwar. The former left-handed opening batter, who played 55 Tests and 247 ODIs for Pakistan, held the record for the highest individual score in ODI cricket (194 against India) for 13 years and Latif reckons a batter of Anwar’s calibre in Pakistan cricket is yet to come.
{{/usCountry}}"I'll talk about Saeed (Anwar). There hasn't been a batter quite like him. Undoubtedly, the No.1 batter Pakistan has ever produced. I have seen him from close quarters and trust me, he was a charismatic player. He hardly would practice. So to compares eras wouldn't be fair. Today there are five fielders inside the circle. Back then, there used to be four. Anwar or Inzamam would eat the bowlers if one fielder was less outside the circle. They were greats of this era. He (Babar) is the Bradman and Lara of this era. That’s the thing," Latif added.