ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has made an interesting comment on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
According to Ponting, Pakistan literally have no chance of cracking the tournament if Babar Azam fails to deliver the goods.
Babar Azam has been a consistent player for Pakistan cricket team for a long time now. There were several instances of him single-handedly leading the batting attack.
His presence will play a big part in the upcoming edition of the T20 World Cup. The marquee event is less than three months away from getting underway in Australia.
The last time when Pakistan featured in the T20 World Cup, they made it to the semi-finals of the competition. However, they surrendered at the hands of Australia in the high-voltage encounter.
Babar Azam is expected to make a telling impact for Pakistan cricket team in the upcoming edition. The fans and the team management will rely on the skipper to bring the best out of himself.
ICC T20 World Cup 2022: Ricky Ponting says the team’s openers and new ball bowlers are very important
It is more important for a team to get off to a good start in order to enter the strong zone. According to Ponting, Pakistan’s openers and their new-ball bowlers should play an important role in the marquee event.
“If Babar doesn’t have a great tournament, I don’t think they can win,” former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting was quoted as saying on the latest episode of The ICC Review.
Babar ended up as Pakistan’s third-highest run-scorer in two Tests against Australia that happened in 2019. He aggregated 210 runs at a fabulous average of 52.50 and smashed two centuries to his name.
“I saw him up close and personal a couple of years ago out here in a Test series against Australia and I said it then, I thought the sky was the limit for this guy as far as Test match batting (was concerned) and, if anything, he’s probably got better and better in the last couple of years,” Ponting stated.
Babar Azam has played 74 T20Is so far in his cricketing career. The right-handed batsman scored 2686 runs at an average of 45.5. Overall, he slammed 1 century and 26 fifties to his name.
“Their openers are very important and their new-ball bowlers are very important, but that role of the spin bowler in Australia might be a little bit more difficult with wickets that probably won’t give them assistance,” Ponting added.
