"Forget about the captaincy" - Basit Ali's suggestion to Babar Azam ahead of Pakistan's home season
Basit Ali has opined that Pakistan's ace batter Babar Azam has a great chance to go on an imperious run in the team's upcoming home season. The former cricketer, however, urged Babar to forget about captaincy and solely focus on his batting during the period.
The 53-year-old said Babar should make the most of the Men in Green's upcoming home matches. Speaking in his latest YouTube video, Ali said (from 4:50):
"Babar Azam will score five centuries in the coming five months. Babar has the best chance to leave the top batters behind, whether it is Kane Williamson or Joe Root. It is a very easy chance. However, now that the pressure of captaincy is off from him, he should forget about the captaincy. He should remove the thought of captaincy from his mind and just focus on scoring runs."
Babar Azam relinquished captaincy across formats following Pakistan's group-stage exit from the 2023 ODI World Cup. While he was reinstated as the team's white-ball skipper ahead of the 2024 T20 World Cup, the 29-year-old will not lead the side in red-ball cricket.
Shan Masood will captain Pakistan in the upcoming two-match home Test series against Bangladesh. The first Test will be played in Rawalpindi from August 21 onwards.
"Needs to shorten his stance by a few inches" - Basit Ali cites Virat Kohli's example to suggest a change in Babar Azam's technique
In the same video, Basit Ali spoke about how Babar Azam should consider changing his batting stance. He pointed out that the right-handed batter needed to shorten his wide stance.
Ali said Virat Kohli has an ideal stance, which allows him to use his feet well. The cricketer-turned-commentator also reckoned that Babar should start skipping ropes while training for the Test series against Bangladesh.
Basit remarked (from 7:15):
"Babar Azam still has seven to eight days. He should start skipping ropes. I am giving him this advice which was given to me by Asian Bradman, Zaheer Abbas. It helps in feet movement. Also, Babar needs to shorten his stance by a few inches. If he does these things, he will leave the top batters behind in five months. If you want to see someone's stance, look at Virat Kohli. Both of them have the same height."
Babar looked out of form during Pakistan's 2023-24 tour of Australia, which is his most recent appearance in Test cricket. He finished with 126 runs in six innings at an average of 21.00.