Simon Doull, a former New Zealand cricketer and well-known commentator, was not impressed with Babar Azam’s batting approach during a Pakistan Super League (PSL) match between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Babar scored his first PSL century in the match, finishing with a 65-ball 115. He reached his fifty in 32 balls and took 28 more balls to convert it into a ton.
However, the last 20 runs leading up to his century did not come in a free-flowing manner, as he took 16 more balls to get to the three-figure mark after being on 80 off 44 at one stage. When Babar was on 99, he played a dot ball during the over by Naseem Shah, which led to Doull questioning the Pakistan captain’s approach during commentary.
Personal records should not come first, but team, Doull advises Babar
Doull commented, “The last little while, that’s all that has been happening rather than looking for boundaries still, when you’ve got so much firepower to come [Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan and all-rounder Aamer Jamal were waiting in the wings]. Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but it still must be team first.”
Babar’s teammate, Imam-ul-Haq, and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi also criticized his batting in the shortest format of the game. Afridi said, “Babar is number one in the world, he is the identity of the country, but one thing that stops him from reaching the AB de Villiers/Virat Kohli rank is finishing. As a match-winner, he hasn’t proved himself yet. If I am wrong, you can correct me. I want him to become a finisher. He should finish games. That’s the thing holding back his class,” while speaking on a local news channel.
Imam-ul-Haq added, “I would like to add… because I know him and this is spoken about in our discussions. Babar agrees with it too. He says: ‘I have played enough cricket, I need to bring more dominance and command in my game so that I finish matches and don’t leave them midway.’ Lala [Afridi] is absolutely right,” while agreeing with Afridi’s remarks.
It should be noted that Babar Azam is currently the third highest run-scorer in the PSL 8 with 343 runs in eight innings at a strike-rate of 140.
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