Matter Of Time Before Babar Azam Becomes Number 1 Test Batsman: Ricky Ponting

Updated - 05 Feb 2022, 12:01 PM

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Babar Azam will lead Pakistan when they play Australia later this year in Pakistan. PCB has released a new schedule of Australia’s tour to Pakistan. The series will comprise three Test matches, three ODIs and a one-off T20I in what will be a month-long tour. The tourists will arrive in Islamabad on February.

Meanwhile, former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has spoken about Pakistan skipper Babar Azam recently. Talking to ICC, he said that Azam is a good white-ball batsman and it is just a matter of time before he starts dominating Test cricket. Azam is currently ranked ninth in the ICC Test rankings.

“I think I said then that for this guy, the sky is the limit. It’s only a matter of time I felt before he was going to be either the No.1-ranked Test batter in the world or certainly challenging for it. He’s probably challenging for that position right now and probably if he had played a few more Test matches through the last couple of years he’d be knocking the door down for that,” said Ponting on ICC’s Review Show.

He also recalled the first time when he saw Babar Azam when Pakistan toured Australia in 2019. He scored a century in the second innings of the first Test in Brisbane. Though the knock could not help his team win, it made a lasting impression on Ponting’s mind.

This Guy Is A Real Deal: Ricky Ponting On Babar Azam

“I don’t get to see a lot of these guys outside of when they tour Australia, but when I saw Babar in the second innings in Brisbane in the first Test against Australia, some of the shots that I saw him play on a fast bouncy Brisbane pitch – both on the front and back foot – against Hazlewood, Starc and Cummins – it was like, I have heard a lot about him and I have seen a fair bit of his while-ball stuff, but this guy is the real deal” said Ponting.