Pakistan T20I captain Babar Azam seeks inspiration from Virat Kohli

Dubai: Pakistan's new T20I captain Babar Azam seeks inspiration from India skipper Virat Kohli and wants to emulate him as a leader.

Recently, Azam was appointed as Pakistan’s T20I skipper. And now, he wants to follow Kohli and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson.

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"I look at current captains like Kane Williamson and Virat Kohli, and how well they manage their own form along with bringing results to the team. I'll try to emulate them," International Cricket Council (ICC) quoted 25-year-old Azam as saying.

"Moreover, I'm not just thinking I'll be happy to play regardless of the results. I'm looking to get a performance out of my team, as well as my individual performances," he added.

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On October 18, replacing Sarfaraz Ahmed, Azhar Ali was appointed as the Test captain while Azam was handed over the reins in the shortest format of the game.

The 25-year-old Azam had played 33 T20I games in which he scored 1290 runs with an impressive average of 49.61. His first assignment as captain will be upcoming Australia tour, where Pakistan will play three T20Is followed by two Tests.

In the recent home T20I series against Sri Lanka, he did not score many runs but served as vice-captain. In the series, Sri Lanka clean sweep Pakistan 3-0.

Azam is currently number one in the ICC T20I batsmen rankings. The series against Australia at their home soil would be a challenging one for Pakistan, but Azam, who had aggregated 286 runs from five ODIs during the previous tour in 2016-17, will take confidence from his past experiences and looks forward to the new role and the series.

"Every tour is tough and Australia is always a challenging place because of the extra bounce, but we will go for wins as we always do. I have toured Australia as skipper of Pakistan Under-19 (2012) and with the Pakistan team three years ago, so I have experience of those conditions," Azam said.

The first T20I between Australia and Pakistan will be played at Sydney on November 3.