Pakistan batter Babar Azam’s spot in the team’s line-up for the T20 World Cup once again came under the scanner after his sedate 15 off 18 balls in the tournament opener, where Pakistan narrowly escaped a scare against the Netherlands at the SSC Stadium in Colombo last Saturday, winning with just three balls to spare.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has now offered Babar a blunt mantra to help him break free from what he described as the “mental shackles” and rediscover his attacking best.
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Speaking to Ricky Ponting and Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review, Shastri said Babar is currently weighed down by the “weight of expectation” that comes with seniority and reputation. According to Shastri, the former Pakistan captain needs to ease that pressure early in his innings and stop worrying about the risk of getting out.
“When you are at that stage of your career, there’s baggage. There’s a weight of expectation. People expect you to go out there and deliver,” Shastri said.
“Get out there and in your first five balls, I don’t care if you get out, but I want you to make an effort to hit a couple of boundaries. Choose your spot, get into good positions, anticipate what the bowler is doing. You will feel a lot better and things might change.”
Shastri acknowledged that questions around Babar’s place in the playing XI are inevitable in the shortest format but backed the senior batter to respond in Pakistan’s next T20 World Cup fixture against the USA in Colombo on February 11.
“He’s a quality player. We know he’s got the experience to adjust very quickly,” Shastri added. “But he has to do it quickly because the middle overs are a very crucial period of play. In T20 cricket, you can’t give it that much time unless the conditions are really in favour of the bowlers.”
