Babar Azam’s heroics with the bat Down Under were unable to prevent a humiliating 2-0 series whitewash for Pakistan in the Test series and 3-0 in the T20I series. While critics slammed the touring nation’s performance, Babar received praise from many for his calm demeanour that saw him score runs without much help from others in the middle. The plaudits also came up with comparisons with the likes of Virat Kohli and Steve Smith – arguably the top two batsmen in the world – but Azam had his reasons to downplay them.
“I don’t think the comparison is valid at this stage. I haven’t played much, while the other players have played quite a lot. I have only played 23 Tests and (74) ODIs,” Babar told cricket.com.au.
“When I started cricket, my goal was to compete with the best. I wanted to do well for my country and to be among the top five batsmen in the world. My mindset was to complete with the 4-5 best batsmen in the world. You can produce good performances, but to maintain consistency you need lot of hard work,” he added.
The Test series against Australia saw Babar Azam score a total of 210 runs in 4 innings at an average of 52.50. He was the third-highest scorer overall in the series, behind David Warner (489) and Marnus Labuschagne (347).
In the T20I series, the Pakistani batsman scored the most number of runs (115) in three innings, ahead of countryman Iftikhar Ahmed (106) and Australian skipper Aaron Finch (106).
The next assignment for Babar and the Pakistan team is a 2-match Test series against Sri Lanka starting December 11.
