Pakistan's Azam hopes to maintain fine streak

Babar Azam celebrates after scoring his century during the first ODI against the West Indies at teh Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Young Pakistan batsman Babar Azam is in fine nick at the moment. And that bodes well for Pakistan cricket, which is undergoing a transition in the limited overs formats with new faces coming in.
The 21-year-old from Lahore worked his way to a maiden hundred in One Day Internationals when he scored 120 against the West Indies in the first fixture of the three-match series at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
And Azam, who had also scored his maiden half-century in the first T20 game at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, hoped to continue in the same vein.
"I feel really good as it is my first ODI hundred. Before this, I had done it in a four-day game for Pakistan 'A' at Sharjah. So, I had a good idea of the conditions on how to play," Azam said.
"I hope to continue the same way and I hope it doesn't end here. I hope to perform the same way in the remaining games as well," he added.
After captain Azhar Ali was out first ball, Azam put on 82 with Sharjeel Khan and then 99 runs with Sarfraz Ahmed.
And Azam said that Sarfraz kept speaking to him about the importance of building a partnership.
"He (Sarfraz) was just saying that we need to build a partnership and he said that if we manage to put together a good partnership, we could get a good total. And if we played a rash shot, we were talking to each other about it," said Azam, who dedicated his first hundred to Pakistan and his family.
Azam said that he had taken a bit of time to assess the wicket before unleashing his array of shots. Azam's 120 came from 131 balls and was peppered with eight boundaries and three sixes.
"I had taken some time at the beginning to study the wicket. Then, after that, I planned on how to go about it, which shots would work here. Mainly, I had a lot of confidence in playing my shots," he said.
Azam also praised coach Mickey Arthur for motivating him. "The coach (Arthur) has played a very important role. He encouraged me a lot and gave me a lot of confidence and told me to go out there and play my natural game. And that is what I applied," Azam said.
Azam's previous best was 83 against New Zealand but he said that the score wasn't on his mind and his main aim was to try and stay till the end.  
"It wasn't in mind that I had crossed my highest score. My focus was to play as many overs as possible and try and play till the end," he said.
james@khaleejtimes.com