RAWALPINDI: Babar Azam has an opportunity to answer all the questions from Pakistan coach Mike Hesson over his technique and skillset in Twenty20 cricket in three matches against South Africa from Tuesday.
Babar, who needs only nine runs to break Rohit Sharma’s all-time record of 4,231 runs in men's T20 internationals, hasn't been selected in the format since December. In that time, Pakistan has played 26 T20s.
Babar has 4,223 runs at an average of 39.83, but Hesson had concerns over his strike rate of 129.22. He also wanted improvement in Babar’s technique.
Since taking over in July, Hesson has favored Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub and Fakhar Zaman for the top three batting slots.
Without Babar, Pakistan won a home series against Bangladesh before losing 2-1 in Bangladesh. Pakistan also won 2-1 against the West Indies and the tri-series in the United Arab Emirates before losing three times to India in the “no handshake” Asia Cup.
The absence of Zaman for the South Africa series has forced Hesson to “endorse” Babar at No. 3, a batting position where he has 1,166 runs in 35 T20s at an average of 44.84.
According to Hesson, Zaman wanted to play in first-class cricket to gear up for the one-day international series against South Africa in Faisalabad next month, and team management agreed to give the left-hander a break from T20s.
“It’s a great opportunity to get Babar back into the squad," Hesson said. "He’s likely to bat at three so it’s a role that I’m very confident that he’ll be able to do well, and it also gives our squad some options coming into the World Cup.”
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Babar has a strong fan base and he drew loud cheers in Lahore and Rawalpindi during the drawn Test series against South Africa. The moment Babar was out, large numbers of spectators left the stadiums.
Babar scored 131 runs in four Test innings against South Africa, falling to spinners three times. His top score of 50 was not enough to save Pakistan from an eight-wicket loss at Rawalpindi in the second test.
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Injury to David Miller forced the Proteas to hand over the T20 captaincy to Donovan Ferreira, who recently endured a shocking four-wicket loss to Namibia in a one-off game. Miller strained his right hamstring during a training camp at home.
Fast bowler Gerald Coetzee was also ruled out of the white-ball tour to Pakistan because of a pectoral muscle injury he sustained against Namibia, where he was limited to 1.3 overs. Another promising fast bowler, Kwena Maphaka, was ruled out with a hamstring strain.
Matthew Breetzke, who will lead South Africa in the ODIs against Pakistan, and uncapped Tony de Zorzi were drafted into the T20 squad.
The series marks the return of Quinton de Kock in the white-ball format after the left-hander reversed his ODI retirement last month. He hasn’t played in the shortest format last year’s T20 World Cup final loss to India.
