Pakistan pretty dangerous with Babar Azam: Faf du Plessis

South Africa’s former captain and middle order batsman Faf du Plessis on Saturday said that Babar Azam’s return to the Pakistan squad has made their team very strong.

Talking to the media through a virtual press conference, the 36-year-old mentioned that without Babar, it’s easier to take on Pakistan. “Someone like him [Babar] would be pretty dangerous. If you look at his records across all formats, it’s nothing short of remarkable,” he said.

“His injury has proven that if you take out his runs from the team, it becomes a team you can take on pretty easily. With him, Pakistan has got its confidence back.”

South Africa has not played in the country for last 14 years and the element of uncertainty is what du Plessis believes is their biggest challenge.

“I think the unknown factor comes in when you’re not sure what the wicket is going to do. It’s possibly our biggest challenge but we are trying not to read it too much. We’ll try to do the best we can, “he said.

The right-handed batsman added that despite Pakistan having home advantage, there are many similarities between the two teams. “Both the teams are figuring out to gain as much experience as they can. There is a lot of inexperience in both squads as many uncapped players have been named so I feel the two teams are similarly placed in terms of experience.”

Du Plessis said that facing former Pakistani spinner Saeed Ajmal was a nightmare for him as a young batsman. While explaining his relatively poor record against Pakistan, the batsman said that he greatly struggled against the off-spinner.

“I remember very well that when I would come to bat I’d see Saeed Ajmal warming up. Facing a hard quality spinner as a young batter was a challenge,” he said. “Sometimes I would wake up at middle of the night and see him bowl at me.”

Du Plessis has a career average of 41.08 in Tests while against Pakistan he averages only 27.33 in seven games.

“I’ve only played handful of Test matches against Pakistan so it is difficult to put one specific something on it,” he said. “But I’m feeling good. I’m really excited for this tour. I want to put in good performances in sub-continent. It’s very important for me to score well overseas,” he added.

Read: Security in Pakistan very good, gave players peace of mind: Faf du Plessis 

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