Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin was asked to name his favourite three cricketers from the current the Pakistan side led by premier batter Babar Azam during a Question and Answer (Q&A) session on Twitter. Ashwin, who made his white-ball return in the year 2021 at the ICC World T20, was all praise for three star players as the Green Army capped off a remarkable season in the limited-overs format.
Under Babar’s leadership, Pakistan managed to end Team India’s unbeaten streak against their arch-rivals in the World Cup. Picking premier batter Babar in the list of top 3 Pakistani players was a no-brainer for the Indian spinner. Besides Babar, the wily spinner also praised star opener Mohammad Rizwan and speed merchant Shaheen Shah Afridi while naming his current favourite cricketers from the Pakistani side.
The troika of Babar, Rizwan and Afridi played an instrumental role in taking Pakistan to the semi-finals of the ICC World T20 2021. “I’ve always been following Mohammad Rizwan and have been speaking about him for a while about the quality he brings and plays very crucial knocks but I think the standout batter & the ways he bats, the hundred in Australia, it has to be Babar Azam,” Ashwin said.
Taking cognisance of Ashwin’s remarks, former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt was pleased to see Babar, Rizwan and Afridi getting the appreciation they deserve after a noteworthy season for Pakistan in 2021. Responding to Ashwin’s remarks on the YouTube channel, Butt said that Ashwin himself is a top performer.
“It is nice of Ashwin to praise them (Azam, Rizwan, Afridi). When players praise each other, the respect level among the cricketers increases. All the players deserve the praise. Ashwin himself is a top performer. We also praise Indian talent like Kohli, Rohit, who are outstanding cricketers. All players should respect each other and this is a very healthy sign,” the former Pakistan opener said.
After a successful campaign in the T20 World Cup, Pakistan thrashed the West Indies in their backyard. Babar and Co. hammered the visitors 3-0 to better their own record of 17 T20I wins in a calendar year. Pakistan won 20 matches under the leadership of Babar in the shortest format this year.
