Srinagar: Former Pakistan skipper Shahid Afridi has said that Babar Azam needs an aggressive opener with him who can bag at strike rate of 140.
“Babar is like my little brother, my junior. I have never criticized Babar, Babar is world’s number one player but in T20 cricket, you have to improve your strike rate,” said Afridi in an exclusive interview with Sports Yaari.
Afridi also believes that Babar needs an opening batting partner alongside him who can launch at over a strike rate of 140 and feels that recently concluded PSL has given players who can do that job alongside him.
“He takes time to build his innings and he needs a partner who has a strike rate of 140 plus since the powerplay is important and you have to make full use of it.
Talking about Virat Kohli , Afridi said, “If I talk about Virat Kohli, I rate him very highly because he plays positive cricket, he had to go through a difficult period but since he is a wonderful player, he has pulled himself out of that phase”.
Afridi said that PSL 2023 has highlighted manh players who can bat at higher strike rate.
“So, strike rate matters a lot in T20 format, and after this PSL, we have players coming up who can build a solid partnership at the top of the order alongside Babar,” he added.