LAHORE: Pakistan middle-order batter Umar Akmal has opened up about Babar Azam’s recent claims from a few months ago where the skipper said that one of his cousins refused to lend him shoes back in his struggling day.
Babar recalled his struggling days and shared the heartwrenching incident during an interview a few weeks back. “I asked my cousin if he could lend me a pair of joggers, but he refused, claiming that he didn’t have any,” Babar revealed.
“I realised I had said something I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have asked for the shoes in the first place,” the World No.1 ODI and T20 batter added.
Responding to these comments, Umar Akmal told a local news channel that he does not know which one of Babar’s cousins refused to lend him a pair of joggers. “I have no idea which of our cousins refused to give shoes to Babar,” he said.
The right-handed batter further added that their families have always supported the children and their quest to pursue cricket as a career.
“We’ve always offered support to relatives who wanted to play cricket. I’ve never turned down a request. People who are close to me are well aware of this,” Umar added.
Recently, Babar Azam has surpassed Indian batting great Sachin Tendulkar in the all-time International Cricket Council (ICC) one-day international (ODI) batting ratings.
Babar, who achieved his career-highest ODI batting ratings of 891 at the conclusion of the home series against Australia, surpassed Tendulkar to claim the 15th position in the list..
Babar had an outstanding campaign against Australia after a miserable PSL campaign. He scored 390 runs at an average of 78, including a record-breaking 196 and two half-centuries in five innings.
Babar led from the front in the ODI’s, scoring back to back centuries in a winning cause and bagged two consecutive Player of the Match and Player of the Series award for his 276 runs at an average of 138, including two centuries and one half-century.
