Former England captain Nasser Hussain was in awe of Pakistan's young prince Babar Azam as he trotted his way to the half-century mark in just 70 deliveries. In awe of his class and elegance, Nasser opined that had cricket fraternity should move on from Fab Four to Fab Five as Babar deserves to be put in the same bracket as Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root.
Nasser Hussain feels that had Kohli carved out that innings as Babar did on Wednesday at the Old Trafford Cricket ground in Manchester in the first afternoon of the opening Test, the world would have been talking about it.
"I think it is a real shame and it is in part a consequence of Pakistan playing away from home, playing in the UAE all the time in front of no-one, Pakistan hiding in the shadow of Indian cricket, not going over and playing IPL cricket, not playing India," said Nasser on Sky Sports commentary.
"If this lad was Virat Kohli, everyone would be talking about it but because it is Babar Azam, no one is talking about it. He averages 68 since 2018 and 55 in white-ball cricket. He's young, he's elegant, he's got all the swagger. They keep going on about the fab four, it's the fab five and Babar Azam is in that."
Since 2018, Babar has scored 1427 runs in 27 innings at 67.95 with five centuries and 10 fifties. No one in the world (minimum 5 matches), averages more than Babar and none from Fab Four has a higher strike rate than the 25-year-old's 63.50.
Agreeing with Nasser's statement, former Pakistan cricketer Wasim Akram told Sky Sports, "I think so, the stats show that he averages 65-plus in the last couple of years. He has improved leaps and bounds as a batsman and as a person too, he is a very confident young boy but he is never satisfied with his performance. That is a sign of a great player in any sport and this guy is on the right track."
Babar's fifty, along with Shan Masood's gritty 45 off 134 helped Pakistan revive from 43/2.
