Pakistan pacer Hasan Ali has recently expressed his admiration for the national white-ball captain, Babar Azam, affirming his previous accolades by referring to the batter as “the king.”
During an interview with a local news outlet, the 30-year-old fast bowler shared his reaction to being left out of Pakistan’s squad for the recently concluded ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
“Obviously, I wanted to play, and I wanted to perform and play. [But] I don’t want to play without performance, and it’s neither in my nature nor do I want to play that kind of cricket, and I never have,” Hasan Ali stated.
“So I don’t regret it because the management had already told me that I was Haris Rauf’s replacement only for the Ireland and England tours. So when Haris gets fit, you will automatically be out.”
He then heaped high praise on Babar Azam, hailing him as ‘the king of Pakistan’s batting lineup,’ dismissing recent criticism following the Green Shirts’ early exit from the T20 World Cup.
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“He is the king of Pakistan’s batting lineup, and he should improve. I should improve; everyone should improve. And you can see that he has also improved. It’s not like he hasn’t done it,” Ali added.
“Wherever he has performed in batting, I don’t think he has given a bad performance anywhere, except in India in the recent World Cup, where he didn’t score a century.
“We used to hear about the Fab Four, which are these four players (Virat Kohli, Kane Williamson, Steve Smith, and Joe Root). Because of Babar Azam, it became the Fab Five, as Babar is the fifth player in the Fab Five.”
He then jokingly reiterated his famous remark ‘King karlega’ which went viral in September last year, stating that Azam will keep getting better.
“And he’s the King. I still stand by my statement, and I hope he will get even better. And yes, (King krlega) King will achieve it,” he concluded.
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