Pakistani opener Imam ul Haq on Thursday talked about the skipper Babar Azam saying he has groomed himself a lot as a captain.
Imam, 27, who is considered one of the classiest batters in the world, further stated that Azam is a great leader who knows how to manage things.
“I cannot describe Babar as a captain in one word. He has groomed himself a lot. He is someone who knows how to manage players. Every player has different way of thinking and different egos, he knows how to treat players. He is someone who understands his players very well,” Imam said in a YouTube video with Grassroots Cricket.
Talking about how he became friends with the Pakistani captain, the cricketer said that at first, they were not friends.
“When I came into the team, I was in the reserves while they had already played the U-15 World Cup in West Indies. We were not friends at the early stages of my career. He was my captain and was friends with Usman Qadir. As Qadir was my friend as well so that’s how we became friends,” he added.
The left-handed batter also addressed the nepotism allegations that’s surrounding him ever since he debuted with the national team.
“Yes, at the start it was quite tough. I came in the team after playing 47 first-class matches, two Under-19 World Cups and two Pakistani tours, getting called parchi even after all that was a very unfamiliar situation for me.
“I guess it will be like this till my retirement, but Alhumdulillah I went through it and now when I play cricket, people appreciate me,” Imam continued.
When asked about the toughest bowler he has faced in his career, Imam divided his reply into two formats of the game.
“In Test cricket, I really rate Pat Cummins. He has the quality to trouble the batsman with bouncers as well as good length ball. He also has a very good pace.
"In one-day cricket, I always want to avoid Shaheen Shah Afridi. He is a quality bowler with the new ball,” he added.