The great Rahul Dravid and Kane Williamson are two of the greatest batters of all time, but Babar Azam sees shades of both these legends in one of his Pakistan teammates. All of 20-year-old, the player recently featured in the Test series between Pakistan and Australia, scoring a century and two fifties in the three-match series. Impressed with the youngster's start in Test cricket, which has seen him score 547 runs in five matches, Babar likes what he sees of Abdullah Shafique.
Shafique made his debut in November last year against Bangladesh, scoring twin-fifties (52 and 73) in Chattogram. The right-handed batter really upped his game against Australia, registering scores of 81, 96 and an unbeaten 136 across three Tests in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi.
"I personally watch and definitely enjoy Abdullah's stylish batting. He plays very clean, his stance and the way he ducks the ball are impressive. Usually, we compare him to Kane Williamson and Rahul Dravid. We call him Dravid" Babar told Dawn News. "In the presence of Abdullah, the place of opener Shan Masood, another polished batter, may be in doubt but our main aim in selecting an individual is the team's interest."
Pakistan recently announced its squad to face West Indies in a four-match ODI series at home. The Windies haven’t fared too well in limited-overs cricket recently and their problems multiplied when Kieron Pollard announced his retirement from international cricket. Under a new captain in Nicholas Pooran, West Indies would be out to prove a point, something Babar is well aware of.
"They play bold cricket and can upset every team on a given day. Therefore, we will try our best to go for big wins in order to earn maximum points to make Pakistan strong for the [50-over] 2023 World Cup. Our first priority is our team; we prefer the best side for each series and that is done while announcing the team for the next series," he added.
{{/usCountry}}"They play bold cricket and can upset every team on a given day. Therefore, we will try our best to go for big wins in order to earn maximum points to make Pakistan strong for the [50-over] 2023 World Cup. Our first priority is our team; we prefer the best side for each series and that is done while announcing the team for the next series," he added.
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