KARACHI: Pakistan’s brilliant ex-off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who is also known as the inventor of ‘Doosra’, said on Monday that Babar Azam is among the best and most versatile Pakistani batsmen in history and captaincy will further improve his game and overall performance.

Talking to Dawn News, Saqlain termed Babar as a ‘complete package.’

“In the past we have had some great batsmen who played for Pakistan such as Hanif Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Saeed Anwar and Inzamam-ul-Haq. All these great players had their unique and signature styles,” observed Saqlain. “Similarly, I also rate Babar [Azam] very highly and he can well become Pakistan’s best-ever batsman. He is a complete package; he has great timing, application, fitness and also have match awareness too. He is very focussed on his game and it will help him to become a great player.”

Saqlain added that he would love to bowl against Babar whenever he gets a chance to do so.

While great batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Brian Lara could not do as well in their captaincy tenures, Saqlain is confident that Babar will prove to be a fine captain. “The captaincy duties will put more responsibility on Babar and he seems to be someone who will enjoy leading the team,” he said. “He is a world class player, technically very sound and has already proved himself in international cricket. I am very optimistic that Babar can be a very good captain and because of his abilities in batting, he will lead from the front.”

Saqlain urged that the current team management to also support the young T20 captain and also everyone should have clarity about his role. “A young captain like Babar needs full support of the board and more importantly from the team management,” said Saqlain. “A captain should be allowed to lead the team with full freedom and Babar also should be given the confidence and the liberty to lead freely.”

Reflecting on his own career, Saqlain recalled many incidents from the past and said the defeat in the final of the 1999 World Cup in England still makes him quite sad sometimes. “I still remember that day (the final of 1999 world cup). We had played quality cricket in the tournament and in the final, we were very hopeful to become world champions again,” said Saqlain. “But on that given day, Australia and Shane Warne outclassed us and we were stunned by the manner of defeat. I remember I was crying after the final and to this day, that defeat hurts.

“For many days I was not able to sleep properly. I used to wake up many times or had dreams of that final and happenings of that sad day,” Saqlain said. “But as they say, life has to go on and I met with a lot of success in International cricket and county cricket and the high point was when I as declared among the Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year.

“But to be honest whenever I visited Lords it took me back to the final of 1999 World Cup and I always see it as a big opportunity missed to become world champion. Luckily, I got another chance in life, when as spin coach of the England cricket team, I saw them lift the World Cup in 2019 at Lords and it truly was a memorable day of my life as I witnessed a thrilling final and was part of the celebrations the world champions.”

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2020