Dinesh Karthik, who is currently representing the Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2022, has backed Pakistan captain Babar Azam to become the top-ranked batter across formats. The wicketkeeper said that he is impressed with Azam’s balance and striking point. 

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Babar Azam currently leads the ODI and T20I rankings. He is fifth on the Test charts. The 27-year-old recently scored  390 runs in the three-match Test series vs Australia. In the second match in Karachi, the skipper went on play a record-breaking innings of 196, salvaging a draw for his side. He continued his purple patch in the ODIs and helped the team win the series.

He was named the ICC Player of the Month for March. 

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“One-hundred per cent (he is capable of achieving the No.1 ranking in all three formats). He (Babar) is a high-quality player who is at the peak of his batting prowess and he has got some Test matches coming up,” Karthik said on The ICC Review.

“He has been phenomenal in all three formats of the game and he has done well in different batting positions too. I think he has the potential. He has got all the following of Pakistan helping him in abundance to go on and do special things for his country,” he added.

Dinesh Karthik then named two things he like about Azam’s game. 

“The two things that struck me when I watched him bat is his balance and his striking point when he plays a ball. Whether it is on the front foot or the back foot, his ability to strike the ball more often than not under his eyes, has been phenomenal.”

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“He strikes the ball at the point where it is optimum power for where the ball is pitched and that makes him a very special player,” the RCB star added.