'Not overly flamboyant': Babar Azam's personality opposite to 'animated' Virat Kohli, says Matthew Hayden

Pakistan will take on Australia for a place in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup final on Thursday (November 11) at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai. Ahead of the crucial match, Pakistan's batting consultant Matthew Hayden hailed the team's skipper and opening batter Babar Azam, who has been in a prolific form of late. 

During a virtual press conference on Wednesday (November 10), Hayden said, "Babar and his personality is, as you see is what you get. He is very consistent. He is very stable. He is not overly flamboyant." 

The former Australian cricketer also weighed in on the constant comparison made between Babar and India's star batter Virat Kohli, saying that Virat is "animated" and "boisterous on the field". 

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While praising Babar and his personality, Hayden said, "In fact, I would go as far as to say he is almost the opposite personality to someone like Virat Kohli, who is very animated, very passionate, and very boisterous on the field." 

"He has great control and a wonderful temperament. Just to give you an insight into that talent, his ability to be able to consistently be able to react to the ball is second to none from what I've seen," added Hayden. 

Praising Babar Azam's playing style, the batting consultant further said, "He picks up the line and the length of the ball quicker than the average cricketer that is going around. That is the mark of someone that is a very fine player." 

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"His reaction time, his ability to play a consistent version of his best self means he doesn’t have to have all the innovations, he doesn’t have to be striking with any increase or decrease in his temperament. He can remain neutral," he said.

"When he gets into the middle stages of the match he also has the ability, through just natural cricket shots, to find his natural tempo, which is a strike-rate of 140-150, and beyond," Hayden added.

During the presser, Hayden also backed top-order batter, Fakhar Zaman, to end his dry run at the tournament. The 31-year-old Fakhar has failed to fire with the bat during the team's unbeaten run in the Super 12 stage, scoring 54 runs from four innings.