Younis Khan Hoping Babar Azam Starts Converting His 100 Into 150 Or 200

Younis Khan, the former Pakistan batsman, and the current batting coach hailed white-ball captain Babar Azam as a ‘fantastic performer’, adding that he will hopefully end up as a ‘legendary batsman’.

Babar Azam has been a run-making juggernaut for Pakistan in the past three years across all formats of the game. After having a slow start to his Test career, the prodigious talent has taken giant strides in the longest format of the game in the past 12 months. After an impressive show against the likes of Dale Steyn in South Africa [in 2018], Azam turned up the heat in Australia later that year, scoring a brilliant hundred at the Gabba and very nearly doing an encore of it at the Adelaide Oval.

The upcoming Test series will be yet another opportunity for Babar Azam, who happens to be the only batsman alongside Virat to be in the top-ten rankings for batsmen across all format, to assert his credentials as a potential great Test match player. Heaping high praise on Babar Azam, Younis Khan is hoping that the 25-year-old starts converting his 100s into 150s or even 200s.

“He’s been a fantastic performer for Pakistan with strong performance in the last couple of years. I want him to bat longer, converting his 100 into 150 and 150 into 200,” Younis Khan said in the virtual press-conference.

“Hopefully, he will end up as a legendary batsman. I don’t think we should put comparisons of other players with Babar. All this could put unwanted pressure on him. Babar has a class of his own and I hope I can take him to the next level.” Younis said.

“We’re working with the boys to ensure that they adapt”- Younis Khan

Pakistan batsmen are in for a stiff challenge against the likes of Stuart Broad and James Anderson. But for Younis Khan, who averages 50 in England, feels its all about refining your technique according to the conditions without making unnecessary changes to it.

“It’s an open secret that batsmen struggle here, especially on their first tours. Batting isn’t easy, more so when it’s cold and overcast. It’s crucial to play close to the body, under your eyes, and play late with soft hands.

“We’re working with the boys to ensure that they adapt. See, you can not change the technique overnight. Maybe with the extremely young and raw players, you can, but not with the established players. That’ll surely backfire. So, it’s about adapting and refining your technique to adjust with the conditions,” he said

One thing England has been pretty good at is that their lower-middle order and tailenders contribute consistently to their teams cause. In the recent Test series against West Indies, we saw the likes of Dom Bess, Stuart Broad came up valuable contributions after the middle-order suffered a collapse. And, Younis feels that it will be important that Pakistan’s tailenders put a prize on their wicket in the upcoming series. He also added that he is working closely with them.

“If we have to win series in England, if we have to fightback, it is important that our tail-enders also fight, which is the hallmark of all successful teams,” Khan said, referring to the role of England’s lower order in their 2-1 series victory against West Indies.

“It’s not just the top six-seven batsmen. The tail-enders must also perform with the bat,” Khan added.

The first Test of the three-match series will start from August 05 at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester.

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