Former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram believes current Pakistan captain Babar Azam is the best Pakistani batting product of the 21st century and said ‘21st Century Belongs’ to him. Akram, who has 502 wickets in the ODI format, was also a handy batter down the order in his playing days and has given his verdict on the leadership quality, ethics and consistency of the 27-year-old.
"If you talk about Pakistan batting, you start with Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Saleem Malik, Inzamam-Ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and then now it's Babar Azam. The 21st century belongs to Babar Azam, he's the man. And he's still got plenty in him," the former World cup winner told Sport360.
"I've seen him since he was a captain in 2010. He came through the proper ranks, I have worked with him in Karachi Kings as well from last three years," Akram said from his time at the Karachi Kings.
"I love his work ethic; he is focused and he's never satisfied with his performance and that's a sign of a good leader. I knew at the time, with this boy, with his work ethic, with his talent, he will definitely perform and be consistent," he added.
55-year-old Akram who led Pakistan in the final of the 1999 World Cup was also all praise for the Lahore-born batter and feels he has the right tools to be a successful skipper. Azam, who led Pakistan in the recently concluded T20 World Cup, guided the ‘Men in Green’ to the semi-finals, missing out on the final after losing to Australia.
The current skipper has already written his name in the folklore of Pakistani fans as he became the first captain to beat India in a World Cup match. He has been prolific with the bat as well, being the only batter to be in the top 10 in the ICC rankings across all three formats. The right-handed batter has represented Pakistan on 37 occasions in the Test while he has earned 83 ODI caps.
