Babar Azam seeks Jake Fraser-McGurk's coach help to improve his power-hitting

Pakistan's white-ball captain Babar Azam is under immense pressure at present not only for his captaincy but his batting as well. Things have only become worse after his and his team's failure in the recently-concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024.

Not very long ago, Babar Azam was widely considered one of the best all-format players in the world. However, things have not gone his way in the last few months. He is facing the heat not only for his failure to score big but also for his struggle to score quickly, especially in the T20 format.

In the ODI World Cup last year, the right-handed batsman scored 320 runs in 9 games at a strike rate of 82.90. With Pakistan bowing out of the tournament at the league stage, he faced severe criticism and also stepped down as the captain. Earlier this year, Babar Azam was reinstated as the captain but it has not changed his fortunes.

In the T20 World Cup last month, Pakistan failed to progress ahead of the group stage after suffering losses against the USA and India. Babar Azam also failed to lead his team from the front in the competition.

Although he finished the tournament as his team's highest run-scorer, he is still facing the backlash for scoring his runs at a strike rate of just 101 in T20Is.

Babar Azam consults Australian coach:

In a desperate bid to turn things around, Babar Azam has not sought the help of Australian power-hitting specialist Shannon Young. The Pakistan batting mainstay recently met Young during his private visit to Lahore, according to a report in Cricket Pakistan.

The meeting took place at a local cricket club. During the meeting, Babar Azam sought Young's expertise in enhancing his power-hitting capabilities.

Young has earned a reputation for his coaching in enhancing players' power-hitting and has played a key role in shaping up Australia's explosive opener Jake Fraser-McGurk's batting. Young has also worked with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Marnus Labuschagne. 

Coming to Babar Azam's overall stats in T20Is, he has scored 4145 runs in 123 games with the help of 3 centuries and 36 half-centuries.

And although he is Pakistan's all-time leading run-scorer in the shortest format of the game, he has constantly faced the heat for his strike rate. The batting star will be desperate to turn things around in the coming days.