Pak vs NZ: Former West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul advises Babar Azam to play freely

SYDNEY: Former West Indian batting maestro Shivnarine Chanderpaul termed Babar Azam as one of the world class batters and advised the Pakistani batter to play as freely as he can, freeing himself from all pressure.

In an exclusive interview to Geo.tv in Sydney after his induction into the International Cricket Council (ICC) Hall of Fame, the former West Indian cricketer said that some results in this tournament has indicated that associated countries are getting better and cricket is improving.

Replying to a question about Babar, the 48-year-old veteran of 164 Tests, 268 ODIs and 22 T20Is, said that the skipper is “definitely one of the world class batters we have around.”

“His skill is definitely one of those who have the highest standards and hope if he could maintain that. He was able to perform in every condition he has played at. He needs to be focused on what he's been doing and keep trying to do his job as well as he can,” he said

When asked what his advice would be to Babar as he is struggling to find form, Chanderpaul said that he doesn’t think the captain is struggling that much.

“Sometimes you get runs and sometimes you don't get right. What you don't want to do is make those things linger in your mind. You just want to go out and play. Play as freely as you can. And remember, it's not you alone playing the cricket, there's always your teammates around you and just add no extra pressure on yourself,” he said.

“Don't think about those scores. Think about the time you performed and the time you're doing well. That is what you do when you have a couple of low scores. You always think about all the times you've been doing well. And that's all you need to focus on, stop focus on negative things,” Chandarpaul said.

Talking about Pakistan’s progress, the West Indian cricketer said that in this form of cricket one needs a bit of luck but Pakistan has been playing good cricket as well.

“I've been watching them for long while now and they have been playing good cricket. You also need a bit of luck and they think they've gotten that luck to got into the semi-finals. But you still have to play good cricket,” he said.

He also expressed his disappointed at early exit of West Indies from the tournament but added that associate teams are now getting better which shows cricket is improving.

“It's not going to be one of those things that you can take any country lightly, now doesn't matter where they come in from, you can't take anybody lightly and you have to make sure that you play hard enough,” the former West Indian batter said.