Pakistan head coach Jason Gillespie has strongly backed Babar Azam to come out of his rut in Test cricket. The former Australian speedster admitted that Babar hasn't converted the starts he has got thus far, but feels he will return to scoring those big runs soon.
The former Pakistan captain hasn't notably scored a half-century in Tests since December 2022 when it came against New Zealand and now has gone 16 innings without passing fifty. The ongoing series against Bangladesh has seen Babar produce scores of 0, 22, 31, and 11 and has come under massively under-fire.
In a press conference after day 4 of the 2nd Test against Bangladesh, Gillespie labelled Babar as a 'world-class' player, who he predicts will score big runs soon.
"Babar is a quality player. He has got a couple of starts, a bit like few of our other players, hasn't quite been able to convert those starts. But Babar is a world-class player, he is very close, I feel it. I'm confident we are going to see Babar scoring some big runs. I know he is disappointed that he hasn't converted the starts he has got, but he is too good a player. Looking forward to see him do really well."
Bangladesh in pole position to sweep series:
With the batters giving Pakistan only 184 to defend, Bangladesh made a rapid start to their run-chase as Zakir Hasan and Shadman Islam propelled the tourists to 42/0 in seven overs. Bad light stopped play following which it started pouring, forcing play to be suspended.
Bangladesh, led by Najmul Hossain Shanto, lead the series 1-0 after picking up a ten-wicket win in Rawalpindi.
