Babar Azam and Abdullah Shafique showed outstanding performance with their excellent form and are included in Wisden’s ‘form world XI’ list.
Babar Azam is currently the only player in the cricketing world who is ranked among the top ten ICC rankings in all three formats, which confirms his excellent form and splendid performance in the game. In the shortest T20 format, he ranks no. 1, whereas, in the longer format, he ranks no.4.
Contrastingly, Abdullah Shafique also has shown outclass performance and is all good with his form scoring runs for Pakistan and making new records in the game. Both these players had put the most contribution in winning the first test match against Sri Lanka at Galle International Stadium.
“The world’s number one ranked ODI and T20I batter is operating on a different plane in Tests as well. A ten-hour epic, match-saving 196 against Australia emphatically announced that Babar was on his way to ace the red-ball circuit as well, and he has continued to make hay since. He’s now gone past fifty in five innings on the trot and hasn’t been dismissed in single digits since April last year,” said Wisden about Babar.
“Technically sound, with an appetite for piling big runs, Shafique’s journey has been meteoric, breaking into the Pakistan set-up with his domestic career still in its infancy. At 22, and just six Tests in, he’s managed to make the opener’s slot his own: against Australia, he cracked an unbeaten third-innings century, and is yet to be dismissed in single figures. A gritty hundred in Galle has only extended the hot streak,” said Wisden about Shafique.
Other players who are included in the XI form list are: Jonny Bairstow, James Anderson, Matt Potts, Daryll Mitchell, Dinesh Chandimal, Prabath Jayasuriya, Usman Khawaja, Kyle Mayers, and Rishabh Pant.
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