Former India cricketer Gautam Gambhir has picked Pakistan captain Babar Azam to be the standout batter at the upcoming Cricket World Cup in India. Babar has been in fine form with the bat in 2023, smashing eight 50+ scores in 15 innings. However, the 29-year-old had a below par outing with the bat in the Asia Cup as Pakistan failed to reach the final. On being asked to pick one batter he’ll be watching closely at the Cricket World Cup, Gambhir picked Babar ahead of the likes of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warner, among others.
“I pick Babar Azam. I think he has the quality to set the Cricket World Cup on fire. I have seen a lot of batters who have a lot of extra time while batting. You surely have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, David Warne, Joe Root and Kane Williamson, but Babar Azam has different quality,” Gambhir said on Star Sports.
Babar has been under the scanner for his captaincy since Pakistan’s early exit from the Asia Cup.
Gambhir had also criticized Babar for what he deemed as subpar captaincy, pointing out perceived flaws in Babar’s fielding placements.
“For me, extremely ordinary captaincy as well. There was a four hit in Zaman Khan‘s over over mid-off and there was another four hit in Shaheen Shah Afridi’s over over mid-off, and both those deliveries were slower ones,” Gambhir had said.
Earlier this week, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced the squad for the ODI Cricket World Cup 2023. While most of the top names are there, there were a couple of surprises.
Fast bowler Naseem Shah who suffered an injury during the recently concluded Asia Cup is not part of Pakistan’s Cricket World Cup squad. But veteran pacer Hasan Ali has made a comeback into the Cricket World Cup squad.
Pakistan squad for ODI Cricket World Cup 2023: Babar Azam (c), Shadab Khan (vc), Fakhar Zaman, Imam Ul Haq, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Agha Salman, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Nawaz, Shaheen Afridi, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Usama Mir, Mohammad Wasim Jr
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