ISLAMABAD: Pakistan limited-overs skipper Babar Azam wants to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan saying he wants to learn the tactics legendary all-rounder applied during the successful 1992 World Cup campaign.

“I had met Imran but there was no talk on cricket,” Babar was quoted as saying on a website. “I will like to meet him and talk about tactics he used on the field, especially during the 1992 World Cup as it will be very helpful for me.”

The 25-year-old, who has scored 1,850 runs in 26 Tests, was also disheartened to be away from cricket for the past two months due to novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, while adding Pakistan have a busy international schedule this year.

“Obviously when you are playing cricket regularly it became disheartening to learn that everything had been abruptly stopped,” he lamented.

“We do whatever we can to maintain fitness and practice at our home.”

Speaking about the upcoming tour of England, Babar said human life was more important than cricket.

“Human life has far more value than cricket and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will only go ahead with the tour if proper health and safety measures are put in place,” he said.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and an equal number of Twenty20 Internationals in England with matches likely to take place behind closed doors.

Babar, who has amassed 3,359 runs in 74 One-day Internationals and 1,471 runs in 38 Twenty20 Internationals, also spoke about playing behind closed doors while comparing it with Pakistan’s matches in United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“Playing behind closed doors is not ideal because the support from fans is vital for players. We have played without crowd for almost a decade in UAE so we know how it felt,” he said.

Babar was also glad to see the Pakistan Super League (PSL) being played entirely at home this year.

“We are all grateful to the PCB for organizing the [entire] PSL in Pakistan this year, which we thoroughly enjoyed as did the fans,” he said about the league which was postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19 before the playoffs round.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2020