*LAHORE – Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur reveals the best batsman in thePakistan World Cup squad.*
*Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur has heaped praise on batsman Babar Azamahead of the side’s upcoming ODI series against England and the ICC Men’sCricket World Cup.*
Speaking to media at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Arthur described the24-year-old Azam as Pakistan’s ‘best batsman’.
The right-hander is ranked No.7 in the MRF Tyres ICC ODI Batting Rankingslink,and averages 51.29 in the format, with eight hundreds and tenhalf-centuries. “Our expectations are high from Babar Azam as he’s our bestbatsman,” said Arthur. “He is so talented, he is a batsman who gets therequired scores.”
Arthur was also complimentary in his assessment of leg-spinning all-rounderShadab Khan, who recently withdrew from the squad for the England seriesdue to a viral infection, describing him as a ‘three-dimensionalcricketer’. He also outlined the expectations from Yasir Shah, who has comein as Shadab’s replacement. “Shadab Khan is a wonderful cricketer,” he said.
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“As the buzz word nowadays goes, he’s ‘three-dimensional’. He plays a keyrole for us just outside the Powerplay. However, we have tried to coverwith another wrist-spinner in Yasir Shah.
“Yasir is under no illusion that he has to challenge both the outside andinside edge of the bat. Our strategy will be to attack, we’re going to eyewickets. We have got all the bases covered.”
