"Avoid social media...": Ramiz Raja's advice to struggling Babar Azam

Islamabad [Pakistan], August 30 (ANI): Former Pakistan batter and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman, Ramiz Raja urged star batter Babar Azam to stay off social media as he continues his struggle with poor form. Babar scored a duck in the first innings and made just 22 runs in the second innings as Pakistan slipped to a ten-wicket loss to Bangladesh in the first Test and are trailing in the series by 1-0.

He has scored just 275 runs in his last seven Tests and 13 innings at an average of 21.15, with the best score of 41. Speaking on his YouTube channel recently, Ramiz said that Babar has become a "headline" in this age of social media because he has not been able to score runs. He called for discouraging immense criticism and trolling on the internet. He also urged Babar to "stay in the moment", taking note of the visible worry Babar is going through as a batter.

"It seems the entire nation does not have a problem with anything except the form of Babar Azam. Unfortunately what happens is when you lose a match and you have not scored runs and if you are Babar Azam, then you become a headline - How did we lose? What did he do? What was his contribution? And then this is the era of Social Media. Anybody can criticize and ridicule anyone, this should be discouraged as much as possible," Ramiz said.

"Cricket is in our blood but don't know for how long if we continue to lose matches like this in Test cricket. Fan following increases with wins and fans identify themselves with success stories. Babar Azam has had a famous success story. There is no doubt that he has been a big player in all three formats," he said.

"So what does he have to do? First, avoid social media. Second, stay in the moment. When you are not able to score runs, it becomes a mental game and you start second-guessing. So you start worrying and that worrisome look is evident on Babar's face. He is trying hard, so frustration will be there. What's important is how he is batting," the former cricketer concluded his point.

Ramiz said that in the last innings he played, he was bowled off an inside edge and it means that his "batting angles are not right".

"You lose your frame because you aren't spending much time on the crease. If you are playing forward, commit fully, if on the back foot, then use the crease. Practice hook and pull shots a lot, because then you focus on the ball a lot," he concluded.

In the first Test, Bangladesh put Pakistan to bat first, who scored 448/6 declared, thanks to centuries from Mohammed Rizwan (171) and Saud Shakeel (141). Then Pakistan went on to concede 565 runs in Bangladesh's first innings, riding on contributions from Mushfiqur Rahim (191), Shadman Islam (93) and Mehidy Hasan Miraz (77).

Bangladesh having the lead of 117 runs, bundled out Pakistan for just 146 runs in their second innings, setting up a target of just 30 runs, which Bangladesh chased down easily without losing any wicket. The second Test will start on Friday at Rawalpindi. (ANI)