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Australia will kickstart their ICC Men’s Champions Trophy 2025 campaign on Saturday, February 22 as they take on their Ashes rivals, England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. While the Aussie will enter the tournament as the champions of the 50-over format after they defeated India in the summit clash in the ODI World Cup in 2023, but they are coming into the tournament after back-to-back ODI series defeats against Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Ahead of their opener in Lahore, Australia skipper Steve Smith was questioned about star Pakistan batter Babar Azam’s form. With the veteran batter struggling to get runs from his bat, Smith was asked to offer a piece of advice.
What does Babar Azam needs to do to regain his confidence? Steve Smith answers
Although, the 35-year-old was surprised on the question for once, he asserted that Babar is a world class player. He also backed the Pakistan veteran to find a way through this challenging phase in his career, adding that even the best players experience periods of poor run.
"Look, he's a quality player. He has had a really good career so far. He's got all the time in the world, the way he plays, he has got a solid technique, he's got a good head on his shoulders, so yeah, he maybe hasn't scored as many runs as he would have liked in the last little bit. We're all guilty of that at stages throughout our careers, don't worry, but yeah, look, he's a wonderful player," Smith said at the pre-match press conference.
It is to be noted that Babar Azam’s lackluster performance came in front of his home crowd in Karachi during Pakistan’s Champions Trophy 2025 opener against New Zealand. The Pakistan opener played a sluggish innings of 64 off 90 deliveries where the hosts registered a 60-run defeat during their chase of 321-run target.
