‘Cousin denied me joggers’: Babar Azam opens up about early career struggles

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan skipper and national squad captain Babar Azam, in a recent interview with former cricketer Inzamam ul Haq, spoke about some of the challenges he faced at the start of his career.

Recalling an incident back when the cricketer was selected for under 15 cricket, Babar said he needed sports shoes for practice.

“I asked my cousin to lend me a pair of joggers if he had it but he refused saying he didn’t have one [pair of joggers],” said Babar.

He said that though the disappointment was real, one thing that actually moved him was the realisation that he shouldn’t have asked for the favour.

“I realised that I shouldn’t have said this. I shouldn’t have asked for the shoes,” he said.

He said that the incident taught him to be able to acquire everything on his own.

“[That day] I decided that if I want to get anything, I have to earn it myself,” the star cricketer said.

However, Babar’s father, Azam Siddiqi took to his official Instagram handle to clarify what his son actually meant.

Azam said that the incident Babar shared is being made viral but there was nothing to brag about.

“A child would have asked for [the joggers] and the other might not have them or he didn’t give [for whatever reasons], it is not a big deal,” he wrote.

However, he added, that what Babar said about self-respect was true.

He said that Babar has numerous sponsors but he has never ordered anything extra for himself, his brothers or his uncles [father’s brothers].

“Be it bats, helmets, shoes and tracksuits, he [Babar] always orders only as much as he needs,” Siddiqi said.

Read more: ICC ratings: Virat Kohli now ranks below Babar Azam across all three cricket formats