Former Pakistan cricketer Rashid Latif has claimed that current Men in Green skipper Babar Azam can be called Don Bradman and Brian Lara of the modern cricket era. The right-handed batsman has certainly given much-needed stability to the batting order of Pakistan cricket.
Babar Azam is currently one of the top faces in the latest ICC batsmen rankings across all the formats. He is on 1st position in ODIs and T20Is followed by 5th position in the red-ball cricket. The star player is too often compared with the Pakistan cricketing greats. Also, many big cricket names feel that he is of Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson’s level.
Babar is modern era’s Don Bradman and Brian Lara
Taking it forward, former Pakistan Cricketer Rashid Latif said that Babar Azam can be reckoned as the modern-day Bradman and Brian Lara. The former player asserted that he had tweeted back in 2019 about some of the all-time top players who played for Pakistan. But, now he feels that Babar Azam is far ahead of everyone he played with during his cricketing days.
“I had tweeted back in 2019. We were on a tour of England. I had written everyone’s name whom I had played with – Miandad, Wasim, Waqar, Inzamam, Yousuf, Younus, Saqlain. But he is ahead of them all. I am talking about a long time ago. He’s obviously become a big player since”, Latif said on Cricket Den’s YouTube channel.
“We can’t compare because here I’m not only talking about Babar. All these guys, Virat, Rohit, Williamson – all these cricketers who are playing ODIs, they are batting with 10 fielders”.
“I’ll talk about Saeed (Anwar). There hasn’t been a batter quite like him. Undoubtedly, the No.1 batter Pakistan has ever produced. I have seen him from close quarters and trust me, he was a charismatic player. He hardly would practice. So, to compare eras wouldn’t be fair”, he said.
“Today there are five fielders inside the circle. Back then, there used to be four. Anwar or Inzamam would eat the bowlers if one fielder was less outside the circle. They were greats of that era. He (Babar) is the Bradman and Lara of this era. That’s the thing”, he further added.
