Jos Buttler or Babar Azam? Ricky Ponting shares his opinion

Babar Azam (PC: Twitter)

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has opened up on the comparisons between Babar Azam and Jos Buttler, especially in the shortest format of the game.  

The Australia veteran went on to give the England skipper Jos Buttler an edge over Pakistan captain Babar Azam, stating the former of the two is much more dynamic and has a better strike rate as compared to the Pakistan opener in the shortest format of the game.  

"Babar Azam, he is technically a better player than Buttler. You look at their strike rates though and there is no comparison there, Buttler is much more dynamic, sort of a more 360-degree player than Babar is.”

Ponting also conceded that since Buttler has got better experience of playing on Australian pitches, considering he has played several seasons in the Big Bash League (BBL), he will perform better than Babar Azam in the T20I World Cup 2022.

“Buttler has also played more cricket in Australia with England and he has spent some time in the Big Bash with Sydney Thunder. So I’m going to go with Jos Buttler on this one.”

England are currently on a historic tour of Pakistan. However, their regular skipper Jos Buttler has missed the series opener in Karachi and is expected to miss the next few games as well. Moeen Ali has been appointed the stand-in skipper of the team in his absence. 

Meanwhile, Babar Azam had a disappointing Asia Cup 2022 with Pakistan and he has been criticised heavily by the media and former players. It remains to be seen whether the batting maestro can bounce back strongly in the upcoming showpiece event in Australia. 

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