Former Pakistan cricketer and renowned commentator Ramiz Raja has drawn an intriguing comparison between Pakistan’s batting sensation Babar Azam and West Indies legend Viv Richards. A vocal supporter of Babar, Ramiz shared his thoughts during a YouTube live session, highlighting the former Pakistan captain’s untapped potential in Test cricket.

Ramiz emphasized that while Babar has been exceptional in white-ball formats, averaging over 50 in both T20Is and ODIs, his Test cricket journey still has a long way to go. "I feel Babar Azam has to achieve a lot more in Test cricket," Ramiz said. He also praised Babar's consistency over the last decade, calling him Pakistan’s best batsman in this period.

Drawing parallels between Babar and the iconic Viv Richards, Ramiz mentioned, "He wants to be a big-match player, and that’s why I compared him with Richards; I think that’s a great blueprint for Babar Azam to follow. The bigger the contest, the bigger the innings Richards used to play. Like Richards, Babar Azam too looks to decimate the opposition."

Babar's recent struggles in red-ball cricket have been a talking point, with the batter failing to score a half-century since 2022. His dip in form led to his exclusion from the second and third Test matches against England, sparking discussions about his future in the format. Ramiz expressed disappointment with how Babar’s exclusion was handled, stating, "He should have been asked whether he needed time off from cricket or not. His body of work suggests there should have been a better way of easing him out from a Test series."

Ramiz remains confident that this setback will only motivate Babar to return stronger. "This is probably the first time that he’s been dropped in his career, and he will be eager to prove his point. So let’s see how the comeback is... Such things can spur an individual," he added.

Discussing Babar's technical challenges, Ramiz pointed out issues with his approach to deliveries pitched on the back of a length, particularly those moving away.

“I think it’s a lot to do with his temperament in Test cricket. When his form slumps, then it takes a longer time for him to make a comeback in red-ball compared to white-ball cricket. So it’s a temperamental issue more than anything else.

From a technical point of view, you see he doesn’t stay still to the ball pitched on the back of the length side, so he needs to be just a little bit more side-on. Because he’s been, of late, getting out caught behind to a ball that is moving away. Also, he struggles against spin. You know he bats at number 4 in Test cricket, but in white-ball cricket, I don’t think he is going to have a lot of problems against spin. Again, as I said, he needs to tweak his mental game, not his technique,”Ramiz concluded