Pakistan’s in-form opener Abid Ali recently shared the name of his inspiration and he is none other than Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar who inspires him a lot. Moreover, his style of game is heavily influenced by the legend.
Abid Ali, who scored tons in his first two Tests against Sri Lanka and also smashed a maiden hundred on his One Day International debut last year, prepares himself by watching videos of Sachin Tendulkar and tries to improve his batting.
“Obviously there are other great batsmen as well that I admire but I have tried to adapt my game to the way Tendulkar played,” Abid Ali told the media in Lahore.
“From the start I have watched his videos and I watch him bat more because of his height as I am also of similar height. This has helped me pick up and adopt his batting strengths,” the opener added.
On the other hand, he doesn’t want to be called the Pakistani Tendulkar as well. He further shared that batsmen of short height had to play in a different way compared to their taller counterparts in the circuit. However, he said that he is aware that he could equal the record of former Indian captain Muhammad Azharuddin who also scored centuries in his first three Tests.
Muhammad Azharuddin, who led India in 47 Tests and 174 ODIs from 1990 to 91 scored centuries against England on his debut in 1984-85.
“When we play Bangladesh in the Test next month in Rawalpindi, I will have that in mind. But I can only try to give my best and play positively. Scoring a third century is very important for me as well but I can only give it my best effort,” shared Ali.
Pakistan currently playing the series with Bangladesh which comprised of three Twenty20 Internationals, two Tests and one One Day Internationals. Following Sri Lanka, Bangladesh also toured there but their wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim didn’t travel due to security concern.
While Pakistan won the T20I series convincingly, they are ready to face Bangladesh in the first Test, starting from February 7.
