Haider Ali opens up on early comparison with Babar Azam

Emerging Pakistan batter Haider Ali has opened up about the comparison made between him and star batter Babar Azam early in his career.

The 23-year-old debuted for Pakistan in 2020 and scored a half-century in their debut match, however, his career slumped and eventually became a lower middle-order batter. He is currently out of the side.

While talking to Islamabad United's podcast, the right-handed batter talked about the comparison with Babar since his cover drive was liked by many cricket pundits, including Ian Bishop.

"Babar Azam is a legend and there is no match with him since he got class but every batter has his release shot and I try to play that [cover drive]," Haider said.

He also pointed out the pressure he was not able to meet people's expectations.

"After playing U19, I was motivated but when a player features for Pakistan, it is another kind of pressure.

"Not everyone watches U19 cricket but it is Pakistan or Pakistan Super League (PSL), everyone has expectations. At the start of my career, I didn't use to sleep when I was not able to perform," he added.

Haider has also turned off comment sections of his Instagram handle since people used to mock him.

"It affected me in the start but I realised people will. The one who is in the stadium knows more what pressure he is dealing with," he concluded.

Haider is playing for United in the ongoing PSL 9. He has only played three innings where he has scored 45 runs with highest score of 26*.

Remember, he was not picked by any franchise but United picked him in the supplementary draft.

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