Little harsh to call Babar Azam a one-dimensional player: Rohan Gavaskar

After a poor run in Asia Cup 2022, Pakistan skipper Babar Azam returned with a bang as he smashed a century against England in the second T20I of seven-match series. Azam smashed unbeaten 110 runs against The Three Lions and helped his side register a 10-wicket win over Moeen Ali's men. Former Indian cricketer Rohan Gavaskar praised Azam's batting and said it would be harsh to call him a one-dimensional player.

Gavaskar highlighted how Azam has a better strike rate while batting in second innings as he is a more prolific batsman during a run-chase.

“To call him a one-dimensional player is a little harsh because he is a quality-quality player. And if anything, the numbers suggest that he is not one-dimensional. The fact that he can change gears and you look at his numbers from the first innings to the second innings. In the first innings, his strike rate is about 125, second innings his strike rate is about 137 which shows that he has the ability to change gears. I think it is a mental mindset with Babar. Fear of failure. And when I say fear of failure, I don’t mean fear of failure as a batter. I could be wrong here; he feels that the Pakistan team revolves around his batting," Gavaskar told Sports 18.

Gavaskar went on to add that while batting first, Azam takes more responsibility because he realises that the Pakistan batting line-up revolves around him while he plays more freely while chasing as he has his eyes set on the target.

"So, when he is batting first, he feels that he’s got to stay long because if he fails the team might fail and that can sometimes shackle a player. And that’s what happens to him when they are batting first. When they are batting second, when the target is in front of him, he is just phenomenal because he knows how he needs to pace his innings. He knows at what strike rate he needs to go and how he needs to sort of chase that target down. When he has got that target in front of him, he is just phenomenal. So, for me to call him a one-dimensional player, it is a little harsh. But I think sometimes it’s just the mental mindset which he may need to change when they are batting first," he added.

Azam is currently one of the most consistent batsmen in world cricket. He is currently the No. 1 batsman in ODIs, number three batsman in T20Is and No. 3 batsman in Test cricket.