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Pakistan seamer Hasan Ali believes Babar Azam hasn't performed badly in recent ICC tournaments, except for the 2023 World Cup in India. Hasan also referred to the Pakistan white-ball skipper as the 'king' of their batting unit and suggested that he saw improvement in him in all facets.
Babar was playing in India for the first time at the ODI World Cup. He finished as the third-highest run-getter for Pakistan with 320 runs in nine matches, averaging 40. While the right-handed batter struck four half-centuries, he couldn't deliver enough match-winning performances as the Men in Green suffered a group-stage exit.
Speaking to Cricket Pakistan, Hasan claimed:
"He is the king of Pakistan's batting lineup, and he should improve. I should improve; everyone should improve. And you can see that he has also improved. It's not like he hasn't done it. Wherever he has performed in batting, I don't think he has given a bad performance anywhere, except in India in the recent World Cup, where he didn't score a century."
Babar has been under pressure since Pakistan's humiliating group-stage exit from the T20 World Cup 2024. The Men in Green suffered a shocking loss to the USA, followed by another close defeat to India, which prompted the PCB chief to express the need for "major surgery." Babar's captaincy future remains uncertain.
"I don't regret it" - Hasan Ali on not representing Pakistan in T20 World Cup 2024
The right-arm seamer was naturally keen to play in the recently concluded T20 World Cup. He highlighted that the team management had only drafted him as Haris Rauf's replacement for the Ireland and England tours before the multi-nation event.
"I don't regret it. Obviously, I wanted to play, and I wanted to perform and play. I don't want to play without performance, and it's neither in my nature nor do I want to play that kind of cricket, and I never have. So I don't regret it because the management had already told me that I was Haris Rauf's replacement only for the Ireland and England tours. So when Haris gets fit, you will automatically be out."
Meanwhile, Pakistan's next assignment is only in August, when they play Bangladesh in a two-Test series at home.
