The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) recently declared that Gary Kirsten, a former cricket player from South Africa, will take over as the team’s new head coach for the white-ball division. Since his appointment, Kirsten has been laying out plans to improve the side, the most significant of which is for Babar Azam.
Babar burdened by responsibility?
Kirsten feels that Babar Azam is carrying too much responsibility. The team’s ace batter should feel free to share batting responsibilities with his teammates, according to the recently hired coach. Kirsten believes that by doing this, Babar can reach his full batting potential. Pakistan will also prosper because they won’t be dependent on any one player to win them games.
“It [dependence on Babar] is not fair on any player. He shouldn’t feel like he has to be contributing all the time to a team. I’ve been in touch with Babar. He’s done remarkably well and carries a lot of the weight of the team on his shoulders. What we will try to do as a coaching staff is to lift that a little bit and to realise he’s just one of the one of a whole group of players and that he can free himself up to play with his natural talent,” Gary Kirsten told Talksport.
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Babar Azam one of Pakistan’s main hopes
The star cricket player has been one of Pakistan’s two batters to score more than 1,000 T20I runs since the start of 2022. He also looked outstanding in Pakistan’s most recent T20I series against Ireland. Babar secured the series and helped his team win the game with a score of 75 off just 42 balls.
“Hopefully we see a lot more of that [the Ireland innings] kind of knock from him. I think if we can unlock that freedom, and understand that there’s a big group of guys that can make match-winning contribution, especially in T20 cricket, that’ll take a lot of pressure off him,” Kirsten said.
