Former Pakistan batsman Basit Ali recollects the crew discussions earlier than going through India and senior crew gamers gave strict directions to Mohammad Azharuddin to “not sledging”.
Ali, a veteran of 19 Tests and 50 ODIs, revealed why senior Pakistan gamers did not need to bother the previous Indian skipper whereas going through their arch-rivals.
“Before each India match, I used to be given the duty of sledging the Indian gamers. I used to be instructed to hassle Sachin (Tendulkar), Jadeja (Ajay), Sidhu (Navjot), Kambli (Vinod) however as quickly as Azhar Bhai’s title got here up, the entire crew unanimously mentioned do not trouble Azhar Bhai Will be performed. I’ve no phrases to explain the respect we used to have for Azhar bhai in our dressing room.
“Whether it’s Wasim (Akram) bhai, Salim Malik, Rashid Latif, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis, they’d not dare to sledge Azhar bhai. I do not assume any Pakistani participant has ever insulted Azhar bhai.
During the dialog, Azhar additionally recalled when Sachin Tendulkar got here as much as him and requested that he wished to open in ODIs.
“During his first 69 ODIs, Sachin batted within the center order and by no means bought that many probabilities. He requested me and I can not say no to such a proficient participant.
Basit Ali additionally recalled how Azhar made gamers and sacrificed his place for the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
“Azhar bhai used to bat at No.3 and when players like Ganguly and Dravid came along, they started batting lower down the order and gave places to youngsters,” Basit mentioned.
Asked concerning the ongoing debate on who’s the perfect batsman amongst Virat Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Joe Root and Babar Azam, the previous Indian skipper replied: “Steve Smith is the perfect batsman of this technology. He provides you 100 per cent likelihood to get him out. His type of play can also be very aggressive, that is what I like probably the most about him.
On the talk of best batsmen of all time, Azhar mentioned: “Growing up I admired Greg Chappell, but there was no better batsman than Sunil Gavaskar.”
Azhar mentioned that West Indies quick bowler Courtney Walsh was the bowler he hated to face throughout his profession. “Courtney Walsh pissed me off lots. I by no means used to choose on her. It was due to her motion.
Regarding Pakistan’s greatest batsmen throughout his enjoying days, Azhar mentioned, “Javed (Miandad) bhai was certainly the most entertaining, but Saeed Anwar was a brilliant player when it came to technique.”
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
