Afghanistan’s hard-hitting opener batter Rahmanullah Gurbaz spoke highly of Pakistan’s all-format captain and star batter Babar Azam, calling him a legend of the game right now.
Gurbaz, who is currently representing Jaffna Kings in the ongoing Lanka Premier League (LPL), stated that Babar is beloved by most of the young fans around the world and he, himself likes the way he bats before terming Pakistan captain a legend.
“Babar is the favourite player of most of the young fans, even for me. I like the way he bats, everyone likes his way of batting, and I can say he is a legend right now,” said Gurbaz.
Gurbaz’s remarks about Babar Azam came after their sides, Jaffna Kings and Colombo Strikers respectively, came face to face in the 13th fixture of the LPL 2023.
Notably, Babar Azam is currently the leading run-scorer of the ongoing edition of the Sri Lankan league with 235 runs in five matches including a century.
Gurbaz also mentioned that his younger brother Masood Gurbaz, an emerging wicketkeeper batter, is a huge fan of Babar Azam and has asked him to bring his shirt.
“He loves Babar so much, and he tries to bat the way Babar does,” revealed Gurbaz.
“He asked me to bring one shirt from Babar,” he added.
Notably, Masood, in an interview in Kabul revealed Babar Azam as his favourite cricketer.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz is also part of the Afghanistan squad to face Pakistan in the ODI series in Sri Lanka later this month.
Talking about the series, Gurbaz said: “The series against Pakistan is in ODI format, which is a whole different situation, I try my best to be aggressive wherever I play but it all comes down to the situation and team requirement.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan are scheduled to play the first bilateral ODI series against each other.
Prior to that, they faced each other four times in international tournaments — Asia Cup and World Cup — with Pakistan emerging triumphant each time.
The three-match ODI series is scheduled to be played on August 22, 24 and 26. The first two games will take place at Hambantota, while the third game will be played in Colombo.