‘Let the Kid play’-recalls skipper Babar Azam thanking Shoaib Malik to help him battle his nervousness in his early playing days

In cricket it is always advised by experts/gurus to always have experience player in the lineup along with the young guns. The senior players keep the dressing room atmosphere calm and their advice to youngsters on or off the field help the latter to understand the nuances of the game to great extent.

The two biggest example that stands out for us which is Dhoni-Kohli and Mccullum- Williamson where both the former captains passed on the baton of captaincy to current skipper after nurturing them with game awareness and decision making and when they felt that the time is right they handed over captaincy mettle to these budding stars.

Any player who represents the country is there because he had that talent as well as skills to succeed at higher level but the one who can handle pressure and build themselves temperamentally are the ones who deliver big at International stage.

Recently Pakistani  skipper Babar Azam narrated a story about Shoaib Malik who helped him to calm down when was nervous during his initial days of cricketing career.  He said that during December 2012, the Pakistani side was about to tour India for a limited over serious and he received call into the side for practice match.

The current Pakistan skipper added that he was extremely nervous when he walked out to bat. And, that was when Shoaib Malik intervened and asked everyone to just allow Babar to play.

“It was Dec 2012. Pakistan team was about to tour India. I was called in for a side practice match. When it was my turn to bat I was nervous. He walked to me, calmed me down and told everyone around: Let the kid play!,” said Azam as quoted by the news.

As Babar has come long way now and he is expected to deliver for Pakistan everything he comes to the crease. Pakistan is currently playing 2nd Test match against South Africa in their own backyard where they are leading the series by 1-0 and are expected to whitewash Proteas side considering the home advantage and opposition batters failing to score big runs during crunch phases of their innings.