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Babar Azam To Keep Wickets? Pakistan’s New Coach Sheds Light
Follow UsAre the rumours true about Babar Azam keeping wickets for Pakistan?
Over the last few days, social media was set ablaze, with suggestions that Pakistan management had asked Babar Azam to pick up an additional skillset, to find a place back in the national T20I setup.
However, their new head coach, Mike Hesson, has categorically denied all those rumours, hitting back at the journalists for their outrageous claims. Hesson also revealed that the only way Babar can return to the Pakistan T20I setup will be at the expense of one of the other Pakistan openers - Fakhar Zaman or Saim Ayub.
“No discussion took place with Babar where I suggested he also keep wickets. He has never kept wickets in his entire career, and you suggest he keeps wickets. This is not the way to treat a former captain and senior,” Hesson was quoted by news agency PTI as telling reporters.
“Firstly, Babar Azam is not seen as a wicketkeeping option, no,” Hesson said.
“Not sure where that came from, but I have heard that speculation. Babar is competing for one of the opening positions at the moment. But obviously we have Fakhar [Zaman] and Saim [Ayub] in those two roles at the moment, so he’s competing for that,” he added.
Hesson was also critical of the Pakistan batting unit and reckoned that ‘strike rate’ is quite important.
“No doubt strike rate is important in T20 cricket, but you have to combine it with a volume of runs. There’s a good reason why our ranking in T20 cricket is as low as it is, because our strike rates from a batting point of view are not high enough,” Hesson continued.
Since 2022, there have been numerous debates over Babar’s strike rate, with the former Pakistan skipper striking at just 129.4, which led to the management dropping him. Hesson reckoned that Babar is working consciously on improving his strike rate.
“Babar is one of many who have the ability to make those improvements. And I’m here to work with them and help them. In the last month or so, he’s made some really good changes. It’s not just a matter of going from 125 to 150, it’s a matter of increasing what you can offer because we’re no doubt often 30-40 runs short with the bat. So, we need to find a way of getting that,” he added.