Former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop has heaped praise on Pakistan captain Babar Azam after the three-match ODI series against the Caribbean side came to an end. The cricketer-turned-commentator believes that Babar has almost taken over former India captain Virat Kohli in at least the 50-over format. Babar is the No. 1 batsman in the ICC ODI rankings, with Pakistan opener Imam-ul-Haq at the second spot and Kohli slipping to the third spot.
“Babur Azam is on the road to greatness. When I say ‘on the road to…’ I want to be clear, at least in white-ball cricket, and certainly in fifty overs. I do not use the word ‘great’ loosely. It has to be a large sample size for a player to deliver greatness, but his average, as we speak now, (is) at 60 with 17 ODI hundreds. He has almost surpassed his neighbour, the great Virat Kohli, in terms of the last batsman in fifty overs,” Bishop told the Cricwick website.
“His Test cricket is in progress. I’m surprised he hasn’t taken Test cricket numbers long ago. He’s starting to get better at it. Technically he is brilliant. In future, I hope to be mentioned in the same breath as the top 3-4 players in Test cricket,” he further added.
hard work pays off pic.twitter.com/HwyvSXl672— Babar Azam (@babarazam258) June 15, 2022
Babar is in excellent form For Pakistan as they led their country to a 3-0 whitewash over the Windies in the ODI series. He already has the unique record of scoring 3 consecutive ODI hundreds, that too twice in the format. The 27-year-old Babar has an ODI average of 59.22 and has a total of 17 centuries to his name. At the same time, Kohli’s last international century came in 2019.
The former West Indies bowler further insisted that Babar’s batting is ‘in progress’ in Test cricket. “His Test cricket is in progress. I’m surprised they haven’t taken Test cricket numbers long ago. He’s starting to get better at it. Technically he is brilliant. In future, I hope that he will be mentioned in the same breath as the top 3-4 players in Test cricket,” Bishop said.
The Pakistan team is set to return to action on August 12, when the team takes on the Netherlands in a three-match ODI series.