Want people to call me Babar Azam, not Virat Kohli: Young Pakistan batting star

Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja also praised Haider and drew parallels with Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

Haider Ali, the young Pakistan batsman is widely tipped to be the next big player from the country. He was impressive in the Under 19 World Cup and was one of the stars in the Pakistan Super League. He has the talent and pedigree to take the next step forward and the right-hander wants to keep improving his game so that people can talk about him in the same vein as Babar Azam.

Babar Azam (L), Virat Kohli (R) (HT Collage)

“A batsman can never become like his role models, but can improve himself and develop shots like they play. I want to improve myself to the extent that people call me Babar Azam and not Kohli because Babar has good shots,” Haider said in a video on YouTube as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

However, he then went on to add that he wants to keep learning and imbibe the good qualities of Virat Kohli as well. “I cannot become Kohli but can develop shots like him through practice. I’m Haider Ali so I can only become Haider Ali,” he further added.

“I met Babar Azam during the first-class tournament and he gave me tips regarding my batting. We also get to learn a lot from him in the National Cricket Academy in Lahore. He also supported me during PSL by boosting my confidence and advising me to keep scoring runs and leave the rest to Allah Almighty,” the young batsman added.

Former Pakistan batsman Ramiz Raja also praised Haider and drew parallels with Virat Kohli and Babar Azam.

“Haider also has to work on his consistency like Virat and Babar and try to be consistent. He is a batsman who should bat at the number 3 position and few dot balls should not worry him, he should have faith in his capability that he can cover up for the dot balls later and win matches for the team just like Virat Kohli and Babar Azam,” Ramiz said in his YouTube channel.