Renowned commentator and former Pakistani cricketer Ramiz Raja has broughtattention to a significant weakness in the batting of the Pakistani team’scaptain, Babar Azam, which has resulted in his underwhelming performanceduring the ongoing 2023 World Cup.
According to the veteran cricketer, Azam encounters difficulties whenfacing spin bowlers in the initial stages of his innings, a problem thatRaja believes can be addressed by incorporating the sweep shot into hisarsenal.
In Raja’s words, “If you analyze his batting, his struggle is most evidentwhen he faces spin bowlers at the beginning of his innings. He doesn’texhibit the same fluency as he does when confronted with fast bowlers. I’mnot sure if it’s an issue with his footwork, a mental hurdle, or hisreluctance to play the sweep shot. On slower pitches, the sweep shot is avaluable tool.”
Raja went on to explain that every time Azam has attempted to beaggressive, he has often gotten out at the wrong time, causing hisconfidence to fluctuate. Raja’s advice to Azam is to focus on building hisinnings steadily, facing both pace and spin, to feel comfortable in hisrole.
While Azam may not be entirely out of touch and is still making goodcontact with the ball, he appears somewhat jittery when he confronts spinat the start of his innings. During the tournament, spinners have dismissedAzam in five out of seven games, with the 29-year-old accumulating a totalof 216 runs, including three half-centuries, at an average of 30.85.
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After a string of four consecutive losses, Pakistan made a remarkablecomeback, defeating Bangladesh by seven wickets in the 31st match of theongoing 2023 World Cup at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India, on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s next crucial match is against New Zealand on November 4th inBengaluru. To keep their chances of reaching the event’s semi-finals alive,the Pakistani team must win this match at all costs.