Pakistan captain and World Number 1 ranked ODI batter Babar Azam will turn out for the Colombo Strikers in the Lanka Premier League (LPL), in what is the team’s first foray into the tournament.
The Colombo franchise will be closely watched and followed by the fans, who hope to see Babar Azam destroy bowling attacks with immense grace. The top-order batter has amassed a whopping 9201 runs in 260 T20s at a brilliant average of 44.02. He has scored nine centuries and 76 fifties in the format. Babar, who is also one of the first cricketers to join Harvard Business School’s executive education programme, along with Pakistan teammate Muhammad Rizwan, recently met up with Colombo Strikers’ owner Sagar Khanna for a candid conversation ahead of the Lanka Premier League, which will begin on July 31.
The player auction for the Lanka Premier League is on June 14, and the Colombo Strikers will hope to sign some of the most talented players up for grabs. Along with Babar, Matheesha Pathirana, Naseem Shah, and Chamika Karunarathne are already included in the squad for the Colombo Strikers. “The Lanka Premier League with the Colombo Strikers will be a great experience for me and the others I feel with this kind of a management who is always backing the players,” Babar Azam said. The Colombo Strikers will be in action in their first season of the Lanka Premier League in July-August 2023.
