Babar Azam Is Yet To Reach His Full Potential: Mohammad Hafeez

Babar Azam has impinged himself in the cricketing folklore as one of the potential greats of the modern era. And, he has done that courtesy his sumptuous strokeplay, grit, hard work and the unrelenting desire to be the best in the world.

Babar averages over 50 in ODI cricket. He has over four hundred in his last five Tests. He is also the only batsman in the world apart from the legendary Virat Kohli to feature in the top-ten rankings across all three formats of the game.

Babar is primed for greatness. And, Mohammad Hafeez, someone who has seen the 25-year-old from close quarters, reckons that he is yet to reach his full potential.

“He [Babar] is a brilliant performer for Pakistan. In his five-year career for Pakistan so far, he has played some amazing cricket. However, he is yet to reach his full potential, considering his talent,” said Mohammad Hafeez, during a recent conversation on Youtube channel Cricast.

“He is like my younger brother and I tell him to his face that a talent like him is not there yet where I want to see him. He is trying to push those barriers and I am confident that he will serve Pakistan for a long time,” Hafeez added.

Also Read: Babar Azam Is Ready For The Challenge: Misbah Ul Haq On Pakistan’s New ODI Captain

Babar Azam is now Pakistan’s captain in both white-ball formats

Azam was recently named as the captain of the Pakistan One-day International team and it will be interesting to see how he responds to the additional responsibility laid on his shoulders.

Former Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower had recently expressed his reservations against making Babar as ODI captain as he thinks that the additional responsibility could prove to be detrimental as far as Babar’s batting is concerned, given the amount of pressure and scrutiny that comes with it.

Misbah Ul Haq, on the other hand, disagreed with Flower’s views, stating that Babar is always on a lookout for additional challenges and he will thrive in his new role.

Also Read: Babar Azam Can Learn Captaincy From ‘Role Models’ Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson: Ramiz Raja