My role is to play out the full overs: Babar Azam

By his standards, Babar Azam had a relatively quiet Champions Trophy. The opening combination of Fakhar Zaman and Azhar Ali took centre stage with the bat. And the bowler prowess meant, low scores which were surmounted with varying amount of difficulty. Babar, still showed his quality in that rain effected run chase against South Africa which kick started Pakistan campaign.

Now, he returns to England. Undisputed number 1 batsman of Pakistan, perhaps now across formats. This is a much longer and perhaps even tougher tournament. The format is such, there wont be any easy games. It is highly unlikely that a few performances can land you the title (it is was unlikely in the CT too but what do we know). So, Babar’s role will be key as questions about form and fitness of the middle order remains.

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Despite, Babar’s outstanding performances some are concerned about his lack of power hitting. The batsman from Lahore reminded his critics that there is a role for everyone in the squad.

“If I can be number one in the world without power hitting, then I don’t need power hitting! But when I need to, I utilise it well. I don’t just play along the ground. I practice hitting the ball big and when needed, I use it. My role is to play out the full overs. My individual role is to take the innings as deep as I can and perform in a way that benefits the team most of all.”

The problem is, others struggle to perform their given role. However, that is something out of Babar’s control. If Pakistan are to have a decent tournament, Babar would have to be amongst the top performers. It is that simple.