 chairman Ramiz Raja recently put Babar Azam under the spotlight with a high-stakes challenge.){kind=link}
Former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman and ex-Test cricketer Ramiz Raja recently put Babar Azam under the spotlight with a high-stakes challenge. In Raja’s eyes, Babar has the raw potential to reach the heights of the legendary Sir Vivian Richards. That’s a tall order, especially in Test cricket, but the question is: can Babar live up to it?
The Vivian Richards Comparison
It’s not every day that a batsman is compared to someone as iconic as Sir Vivian Richards. Known for his commanding presence, Richards had this uncanny ability to step up his game when it mattered the most.
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Raja wants Babar to embody that same fire and grit, particularly in the red-ball format. “Babar has to prove with his temperament that he is Vivian Richards,” Ramiz stated on his YouTube channel.
“Bigger the contest, bigger the innings Richards used to play.” That’s a massive endorsement—but it also highlights where Raja feels Babar could elevate his game: in Test cricket.
Babar’s Red-Ball Struggles
While Babar’s white-ball stats are impressive (he averages over 50 in both T20Is and ODIs), Test cricket has been more challenging lately. Babar hasn’t scored a half-century in red-ball cricket since 2022, which is surprising for someone of his calibre.
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Recently, he was even dropped from the last two Tests in the series against England, following a series of lacklustre performances. As of now, Babar’s Test average sits at 43.92—a decent number, but far from legendary.
Chasing A Record
Currently, Babar is on tour in Australia for the ODI and T20I series, and there’s another big milestone within his reach. He’s just 271 runs shy of 6,000 ODI runs, which puts him on the brink of overtaking Hashim Amla as the fastest player to reach that landmark.
Amla achieved it in 123 innings, while Babar, with 5,729 runs in 114 innings, has a solid chance to beat that record. If he pulls this off, it will only bolster his legacy in white-ball cricket. But for Raja, it seems that Babar’s ultimate validation will come from success in Test cricket.
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