Shoaib Akhtar thinks Babar Azam would have been a hit in Mumbai team

Barring the inaugural season of the Indian T20 League 2022, the Pakistani players have not been a part of the tournament. Although they were registered for the auctions later none of the ITL teams picked them and since then the tournament has been devoid of players from Pakistan.

Notably, former Pakistani speedster Shoaib Akhtar was a part of the Kolkata team in the Indian T20 League 2008. He played three matches for the franchise and picked up 5 wickets in the matches. In a recent conversation with Sportskeeda, Akhtar talked about the participation of Pakistani players in the cash-rich league. He picked the teams for which some of the current Pakistani players could have played. Here we take a look at the teams Akhtar thinks the players would have represented.

Pakistan is a pretty consistent team in the shortest format of the game. They have a very good domestic setup and that is the reason why they made it to the semi-finals of the 2021 T20 World Cup. On that note, let us take a look at Akhtar’s picks of ITL teams for the Pakistani players.

Shoaib Malik- Lucknow

Azhar Ali- Rajasthan

Asif Ali- Kolkata

Mohammad Rizwan- Bangalore

Babar Azam – Mumbai

Shaheen Shah Afridi- Delhi

Out of the players Akhtar has picked only Shoaib Malik has been a part of the Indian T20 League. He played for Delhi in the inaugural edition of the tournament. The other interesting choices by the veteran pacer are that of Babar Azam for Mumbai and Rizwan for Bangalore. Akhtar has also opted for Shahhen Shah Afridi for Delhi, although they boast of a good pace attack led by the South African speedster Anrich Nortje.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam is currently the number one batter in the shortest format of the game. He has played 74 T20I matches and has scored 2686 runs in them at an average of 45.53 and a strike rate of 129.45. Azam is also the leader of the Pakistan team and is the only captain to have won a World Cup match against their arch-rivals- India.