Babar Azam reveals how ex-coach Mickey Arthur backed him when he was a newcomer

Babar Azam has revealed how former Pakistan cricket team head coach Mickey Arthur supported him when he first started his cricketing career at the highest level. The youngster has been compared with Virat Kohli ever since Azam surpassed Kohli to become the fastest to reach 1000 T20I runs in 2018. Babar had an outstanding World Cup 2019 where he had amassed close to 500 runs. He was named Pakistan's T20I skipper last October and was named the ODI skipper of the Men In Green in May this year. 

Arthur on the other hand was sacked as the head coach after Pakistan's World Cup 2019 debacle. He is currently the head coach of Sri Lanka.

'Really supported me': Babar Azam

While speaking to Hindustan Times, the current Pakistani limited-overs captain went on to say that his former coach had really supported him by giving him confidence and at the same time, had also rated him highly when he was very much a newcomer. The top-ranked T20I batsman also mentioned that Arthur had backed him all the time and the best thing about the South African was he had great trust in the elegant batsman's abilities. 

Meanwhile, the 2017 Champions Trophy winner also heaped praise on the current Pak head-coach-cum-chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq by saying that he is no different either as the former Pakistani skipper backs Babar and also has confidence in him which really helps a player when his coach trusts him.

The 25-year-old will next be seen in action during the away bilateral series against England later this month.

Pakistan tour of England 2020

The 1992 World Cup winners will be touring England for a three-match Test series that will be followed by a three-match T20I series from July 30 to September 2, 2020. Meanwhile, the PCB  also announced that spin legend Mushtaq Ahmed has been named as the bowling coach for the upcoming tour while former captain as well as batting great Younis Khan has been appointed as the batting coach. 

All the members of the Pakistani squad have been tested negative for COVID-19. This was officially confirmed by the English & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) earlier this week. The Test team will be led by Azhar Ali while the top-ranked T20I batsman Babar Azam will be captaining the Men In Green in the shortest format. 

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