“He stood in front of me as a fan” - AB de Villiers recalls first interaction with Babar Azam

South African legend AB de Villiers recalled that he met Babar Azam for the first time during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in Dubai. De Villiers remembered that the Pakistan skipper met him as a fan and so he had to ask Babar to relax.

Babar has described De Villiers as his role model in the past. He has even admitted to trying to copy the kind of strokes that the South African great played.

In a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, De Villiers opened up on his first interaction with the Pakistan skipper, while responding to a query on Babar considering the former Proteas skipper as his role model.

“It’s very special. We had this interaction; I think it was in Dubai when he met me for the first time in the PSL. It was very special to see because at that time I knew he was going to be a great. He stood in front of me as a fan and I was like, ‘Hey, relax. I am also just human. You’re going to be a great one-day. I’ve watched you play and you’re incredible,'" he recalled.

“We shared some nice thoughts about the game, said some nice stuff to him, which I feel or believe he appreciated. I have a lot of respect for him. I love the way he plays the game. The calm manner in which he plays the game, it’s very similar to Hashim Amla. He loves the big moments and the pressure,” De Villiers added in praise of Babar.

The Pakistan captain recently notched up his 19th ODI ton, scoring 151 off 131 balls against Nepal in the Asia Cup 2023 opener.

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“One of the best players we have ever seen” - De Villiers hails Babar Azam

Sharing his thoughts on Babar as a batter, De Villiers termed him one of the best ever and described him as the glue in the Pakistan batting line-up.

“He is one of the best players we have ever seen play this game. Huge rock in that batting line-up of Pakistan. If India want to keep Pakistan quiet, this is the guy to get out. In the analysis meeting leading up to this game, there will be a lot of time that will be spend on Babar. He is the glue in that batting line-up," the South African elaborated.

De Villiers added that Babar’s got the ability to take the game away from any team in the world. On the India-Pak Asia Cup match, he added:

“Playing India is a big occasion; we all know the rivalry between the teams, so the juices will be flowing a bit more than usual. There’s an Indian attack that will be planning as to, ‘how do we get him out?’, ‘how are we going to unsettle him?’.”

India will take on Pakistan in the Asia Cup in Pallekele on Saturday.