Former Pakistan captain Babar Azam added that batters from the sub-continent cannot give the excuse that they are Asian and that’s why they are struggling in SENA countries – South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. He further added that, as professionals, sub-continent batters need to learn how to tackle pace and bounce there.

However, India, Pakistan and Sri Lankan players have traditionally struggled to do well in SENA countries, especially in red-ball cricket. Meanwhile, India have registered consecutive Test series triumphs in Australia, but Pakistan have lost 17 consecutive Tests in the country as well.

Babar Azam was a part of the team that was hammered 3-0 in the Test series in Australia recently. In an interview with Cricbuzz, he shared his thoughts on batters from Asia failing to leave a mark in SENA countries. Babar himself had a poor Test series in Australia. In three matches, he managed only 126 runs which came at an average of 21, with a best of 41.

“As a professional you have to always be proactive and you cannot give an excuse that we are Asian and when we go over there we struggle, because you have to go over there being prepared. There are technologies and practices in place to manage pace and bounce over there. You have to go there being prepared, like how you want to play pace and bounce over there. The ball gets some pace and bounce there but you cannot use that as an excuse because in international cricket you cannot expect that you won’t get pace. Every team has bowlers who can bowl over 140 kmph,” Babar Azam shared.

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He has admitted that he seeks advice from people when he goes through rough patches. He, however, claimed that the biggest learning comes from within and hence a player himself is the best person to understand where he is going wrong as well.

While Babar has been one of Pakistan’s key batters over the last few years, he faced a lot of criticism for his batting and captaincy during the 2023 ODI World Cup in India. He scored 320 runs in nine innings at an average of 40, and a strike rate of 82.90. After Pakistan failed to reach the knockouts of the ICC tournament, he quit as captain.

“Yes of course I talk with a lot of people. I also analyse where I am going wrong by seeing my own videos in the nets and having discussion over it. But I feel you are your biggest coach. Another person can tell you about technique but you have to understand from within where you are making a mistake and how you can rectify because you know best what mistakes you are committing as a batter,” the former Pakistan captain said.

“I try to learn something new every day and apply it to my batting and execute it in the nets to see whether it is helping me or not. It can be mindset or a shot or a different kind of practice. I don’t believe that I can be satisfied with what I have achieved, and all the time I try to reach a new destination and [think] how I can improve myself. You will be stranded as a batter if you are satisfied with yourself,” Babar Azam concluded.