“Will have to show the world through his temperament that he’s Viv Richards…”: Ramiz on Babar

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 29 (ANI): Former Pakistan cricketer and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) president Ramiz Raja backed Babar Azam to come good in red-ball cricket, saying that he needs to show the world through his temperament that he is like the West Indies batting legend Vivian Richards.

Ramiz was speaking on his YouTube channel. Notably, Babar was rested from the remainder of the England Test series at home after poor performance and a massive defeat in the first Multan Test. Pakistan went to win the series 2-1, with spinners Noman Ali and Sajid Khan dominating the next two games.

Speaking on his Youtube Channel, Ramiz said, “I feel Babar has to achieve a lot more in Test cricket. He plays the white-ball format really well, has an average of 50-plus in both the formats (T20I and ODI)…There is so much potential in Babar Azam. Ab unko apne temperament se batana hai duniya mei ke woh ek Viv Richards hain (now he has to prove to the world with his temperament that he is Viv Richards). Bigger the contest, bigger the innings Richards used to play.”

Babar is going through a lean patch in Tests. In his last nine Tests and 17 innings, he has scored just 352 innings at an average of 20.71, with his best score being 41. In 55 Tests, Babar has scored 3,997 runs at an average of 43,92, with nine centuries and 26 fifties and best score of 196.

Meanwhile, Richards is considered as one of the greatest players to have played the sport. In 121 Tests and 182 innings, he scored 8,540 runs at an average of 50.23, with 24 centuries and 45 fifties and a best score of 291.

Pakistan announced 15-member squads for white-ball series tours to Australia and Zimbabwe starting from November 4 onwards, with star batter Babar Azam being rested from the Zimbabwe tour and set to play in Australia.

The white-ball series in Australia will start from November 4 onwards with the ODIs and will consist of three ODIs and T20Is each. Pakistan will play three ODIs against Australia from November 4-10, followed by T20Is from November 14-18.

The Zimbabwe tour begins on November 24, with three ODIs, followed by three T20Is, concluding on December 5. All matches will take place in Bulawayo.

ODI squad for Australia: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah(WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan(C, WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi

T20I squad for Australia: Arafat Minhas, Babar Azam, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah(WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan(C, WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Naseem Shah, Omair Bin Yousuf, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufyan Moqim, Usman Khan

ODI squad for Zimbabwe: Aamir Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Ahmed Daniyal, Faisal Akram, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Kamran Ghulam, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Rizwan (C, WK), Muhammad Irfan Khan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Shahnawaz Dahani and Tayyab Tahir

T20I squad for Zimbabwe: Ahmed Daniyal, Arafat Minhas, Haris Rauf, Haseebullah (WK), Jahandad Khan, Mohammad Abbas Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Muhammad Irfan Khan, Omair bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Ali Agha, Sufyan Moqim, Tayyab Tahir and Usman Khan.