Ramiz Raja backs Babar Azam to regain form with bizarre Viv Richards comparison

Former Pakistan cricketer and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ramiz Raja believes that star batter Babar Azam has a lot left to achieve in Test cricket.

Notably, Babar was recently rested from the last two Tests of the series against England following a prolonged poor run in the longest format. The former Pakistan captain hadn’t scored a half-century for 18 innings, and hence, the PCB decided to rest him to manage his workload. Commenting on Babar’s performance in the longest format, Raja compared his performances in the white-ball formats and said that he needs to show the world that he’s a big match player like legendary West Indies batter Viv Richards.

“I feel Babar has to achieve a lot more in Test cricket. He plays the white-ball format really well, has an average of 50-plus in both the formats (T20I and ODI)…There is so much potential in Babar Azam. Ab unko apne temperament se batana hai duniya mei ke woh ek Viv Richards hain (now he has to prove to the world with his temperament that he is Viv Richards). Bigger the contest, bigger the innings Richards used to play,” said Raza on his Youtube Channel.

Babar to make comeback on Australia tour

Meanwhile, Babar will be seen making a comeback to the Pakistan team in the upcoming tour of Australia where he’s been named in both ODI and T20I squad. It will be Pakistan’s first ODI since the World Cup 2023 where they failed to qualify for the semi final under Babar’s captaincy finishing on the fifth spot.

The right-handed batter was awarded ICC ODI Cricketer of the year back-to-back in 2021 and 2022 respectively and continues to sit on the top of the ICC ODI batters rankings. Babar will be eager to continue his good form in the format and regain confidence to make a stellar comeback in the Test format as well as Pakistan are set to tour South Africa and host West Indies for five Tests combined.