Prior to the first Test, which will be played in Rawalpindi beginning on December 1, 2022, Pakistan captain Babar Azam sat down with England veteran Naseer Hussain and answered all the questions.
The 27-year-old claimed that his father’s support was crucial in enabling him to pursue a cricket career.
“My father’s role is very important; he supported me a lot. Whenever I am going to play cricket in Lahore, we have different grounds; my father took me everywhere, he used to see all my matches and guided me on how to improve my batting day by day,” Babar said.
Nasser Hussain then asks Babar Azam at which particular moment he got to know he would become an international player.
“I think in under-19 cricket, when I was playing under-19 matches in Australia, so after that, I knew I will play for Pakistan, and when I came in Pakistan team, I started well, but within one and a half years as my career started in International cricket, I struggled. Management said that he was not good enough to play cricket for Pakistan, and from that moment, I decided no, I am good enough to play for Pakistan and tried my level best to perform.”
Mickey Arthur was the former instructor who assisted the right-handed hitter during his early-career struggles, according to Babar Azam.
“Mickey Arthur supported me a lot; he gave me a chance, and he said you just play and don’t bring negative thoughts into your mind. The turnaround moment that in the series against West Indies, I scored three consecutive centuries, and then I started and gradually became a professional cricketer.”
The 28-year-old claimed that AB de Villiers, a former South African captain, is his dream cricketer and that he copied him when he was younger while playing shots.
“I used to practise hitting shots like him after seeing AB de Villiers play on television,” he said.
The English squad was warmly welcomed to Pakistan by Babar, who also expressed his excitement for the historic Test series.
