\u201cMaybe Babar needs to get away for a while and stop trying too hard. Lock kit bag away for a while,\u201d says ex-cricketer
\n Melbourne
\nFormer Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Thursday advised Pakistan ace batsman Babar Azam to take a break to rediscover his form as India\u2019s Virat Kohli did earlier this year and in 2022 as well.
\nTalking in the ICC Review podcast, Ponting suggested Babar adopt \u201cthe Virat Kohli approach\u201d to remedy his troubles and rejuvenate his career, particularly the Test form, where he averaged 20.7 since 2023.
\nFollowing a series of dismal performances, the right-handed batter, along with two leading pacers, was given \u201crest\u201d from the last two matches of the three-match Test series against England at home in October. The Englishmen defeated the Green Shirts by a behemoth margin in the first Test. Then, Pakistan went on to win the series 2-1.
\nInterestingly, Babar sits atop in ODI rankings. He displayed vigour with his satisfying knock of 37 in the first ODI against Australia earlier this week as well. However, what concerns Ponting more is the former Pakistan captain\u2019s performance in the longer format game.
\n\u201cThe biggest challenge is how they get Babar back into their side,\u201d Ponting said in the ICC Review. \u201cThey\u2019ve got to find a way to get Babar back into form and back into their [Test] team.\u201d
\nPonting said the break freshened Kohli up and sorted out the things in his favour, so will it for Babar as well.
\n\u201cYou know, when you look at (Babar\u2019s) numbers, it\u2019s been a bit like the stuff that we were talking about with Virat [Kohli] earlier on,\u201d Ponting said. \u201cSometimes \u2014 and I think Virat was on record saying this \u2014 that little bit of a break that he had, he took himself away from the game for a while to freshen up and sort out some things that he needed to sort out.
\n\u201cThis might be exactly what Babar needs. Maybe Babar needs to get away for a while and stop trying too hard. Lock the kit bag away for a while, and think about something else and then hopefully come back recharged, because we know at his best he\u2019s as good as anyone going around. Hopefully we get to see that in the back half of his career again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cMaybe Babar needs to get away for a while and stop trying too hard. Lock kit bag away for a while,\u201d says ex-cricketer Melbourne Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting on Thursday advised Pakistan ace batsman Babar Azam to take a break to rediscover his form as India\u2019s Virat Kohli did earlier this year and in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-442334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n