Pakistan coach Gary Kirsten says Babar Azam shouldn’t feel like ‘he has to be contributing all he time.
Gary Kirsten, a former cricket player from South Africa, has been announced by PCB as going to take over as the team’s new head coach for the white-ball division. Since his appointment, Kirsten has been laying out plans to improve the side, the most significant of which is for Babar Azam.
Kirsten feels that Babar Azam is carrying too much responsibility. The team’s ace batter should feel free to share batting responsibilities with his teammates, according to the recently hired coach.
Gary said, “It [dependence on Babar] is not fair on any player. He shouldn’t feel like he has to be contributing all the time to a team. I’ve been in touch with Babar. He’s done remarkably well and carries a lot of the weight of the team on his shoulders. What we will try to do as a coaching staff is to lift that a little bit and to realise he’s just one of a whole group of players and that he can free himself up to play with his natural talent.”
“Hopefully we see a lot more of that [the Ireland innings] kind of knock from him. I think if we can unlock that freedom and understand that there’s a big group of guys that can make match-winning contributions, especially in T20 cricket, that’ll take a lot of pressure off him,” Kirsten said.