• Gautam Gambhir believes that Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammed Siraj can pose a significant challenge for Babar Azam.
• Babar Azam has been in excellent form, but he has not had much success against India in ODIs.
• Gambhir believes that the Asia Cup match against India will be a good test for Babar Azam and that he will be eager to perform well against the Indian bowlers.

Former Indian cricketer and World Cup champion Gautam Gambhir believes that three bowlers from the Indian cricket team will pose a significant challenge for the top-ranked ODI batsman, Babar Azam.

The fierce rivals are all set to face each other in a 50-over format match for the first time since 2019 when they crossed paths in the ICC Cricket World Cup, which ended with India emerging victorious.

Pakistan is currently in excellent form, starting their Asia Cup campaign with a commanding 238-run win against Nepal. Prior to that, they swept Afghanistan 3-0, securing their position as the world’s number-one ODI team.

When asked whether Babar Azam’s remarkable 151 against Nepal was intended as a message to India, Gautam Gambhir responded that the 28-year-old doesn’t need to convey any messages.

“Babar Azam doesn’t need to give any message. He has given a message in the 104 matches he has played. If you can score 19 centuries in 104 matches, I believe he will be in the top two or three players in all formats. So he doesn’t need to give a message.”

“However, it will be a good contest. He will be tested against the Indian fast bowling. You will get to see an Indian attack after a long time, where all three bowlers [Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, and Mohammed Siraj] can test Babar Azam properly.

“Babar Azam’s real testing will not happen against Nepal, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh, it will be against India. Such players also want to test themselves against this kind of bowling.”

Babar holds the top position among ODI batsmen and has maintained remarkable consistency since his debut, accumulating an impressive 5353 runs at an average of 59.71 in 104 innings.

However, when it comes to his performance against the arch-rivals in ODIs, it’s not as noteworthy. In five innings against the Blues, he managed to score only 158 runs with a rather disappointing average of 31.60.

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