New Delhi: Former England skipper Naseer Hussain has expressed his wish for Pakistan cricketers, counting Babar Azam to feature in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Due to the political tensions between Indo-Pak relations, Pakistani players are not allowed to participate in the cash-rich league. The 13th edition of IPL is scheduled to held in the UAE from September 19 due to the rising COVID-19 cases in India.
Hussain believes Pakistan should be granted to take part in IPL, despite political issues. He stated, “I don’t want to get into the politics of it but India and Pakistan not playing each other is like the Premier League with Manchester City not playing Manchester United, or Everton-Liverpool or Spurs and Arsenal.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator also stated Babar was the top-ranked T20I batsman, and believes will a great benefit for IPL. “It’s the Pakistani players not being in the IPL. The IPL will start soon and Babar Azam won’t be there. He’s a phenomenal player and he should be there,” Hussain said.
The Pakistan captain is also considered one of the finest batsmen in contemporary cricket and was the only player to be among the top five in ICC rankings across all formats in 2020. “They keep going on about the ‘Fab Four (Virat Kohli, Australia’s Steve Smith, New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and England captain Joe Root) — it’s the ‘Fab Five’ and Babar Azam is in that,” Hussain concluded.
