Mirpur: Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood is confident that star batsman Babar Azam will translate his Pakistan Super League (PSL) form into the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
Babur, who last scored a Test century during the home series against New Zealand in December 2022, enjoyed a successful PSL 11 campaign, amassing 588 runs in 11 innings at a staggering average of 73.02 and a strike-rate of 145.90 with the help of two centuries and three fifties.
Following his impressive century in the qualifiers against three-time champions Islamabad United, Peshawar led Zalmi to the final.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Test captain Masood, who represented Multan Sultans in the recently concluded eight-team tournament, hailed Babar as one of the best batsmen the country has ever produced, insisting it was a “very good time” for the 31-year-old to enter the series.
“I believe he is one of the best batsmen Pakistan has ever produced. His runs are always beneficial as runs give a batsman essential confidence,” Masood told a pre-series press conference at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium here.
“It is very good timing for us as he enters this series with a significant number of runs from the PSL. We look forward to Babar replicating that performance in these Tests as well,” he added.
The Pakistan captain hailed Babur’s ability to transition from T20s to Test cricket before expressing his hope that the star batsman will mirror his PSL brilliance in the upcoming international against Bangladesh.
“Look, I think again, the present is important and now Babar is coming into the series with a lot of runs behind him. He is an all-rounder who has played for Pakistan over the years,” continued Masood.
“We hope he will carry that form to Test cricket as well. He is one of the best players in the world and has the ability to carry over from T20 cricket to Test cricket while maintaining the same form.”