ISLAMABAD: Former England skipper Nasser Hussain believes Pakistan’s young prolific batsman Babar Azam’s performance in the Test matches would be of great importance, if the tourists were to win the ongoing series in England.

Nasser heaped praise on Babar, while talking about the way the latter carries himself on the field.

“The outstanding member of that line-up is Babar, who has the best average in the world over the past two years,” Nasser wrote in his column for The Daily Mail as quoted by cricketpakistan.com.pk.

“Babar has taken on the responsibility of being Pakistan’s leading batsman now and it is not only his stats that are impressive but the way he bats, because he is very pleasing on the eye. He will need to have a good series for Pakistan to win it,” he said.

Nasser also spoke about Pakistan’s impressive bowling attack and their impact in English conditions.

“There’s the 17-year-old Naseem Shah, who will push 90mph, and the tall left-armer Shaheen Afridi, who will get it through. Add the wrist-spin of Yasir Shah and the accuracy of Mohammad Abbas, who has a phenomenal record in England, and that’s a useful line-up.

“Like West Indies they will need to give their bowlers runs to play with, but where they are different is that they have a stronger batting order,” he said.

He also warned England skipper Joe Root against taking the Men in Green lightly.

“I know it’s a cliche but Pakistan really are mercurial. One day they will be a shambles and the next they will play brilliant, exhilarating cricket,” Nasser wrote.

“Root takes them lightly at his peril because England have not beaten Pakistan since 2010 and the last two series in this country [2016 and 2018] have been drawn,” Nasser wrote.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2020