What's new

Babar Azam can be a superstar

CricFan2012

CricFan2012

First Class Star
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
Runs
3,228
I have watched every single one of his innings, this boy is special. He has it in him to become a real superstar for the Pakistan cricket team.

He already has impressive list A stats and had a decent debut, from here on out he needs to be given a go for every tour. I think it is too early to choose him for tests but he needs to be a permanent fixture in the one day side.

I honestly think he can score over 10000 runs in odi if pcb don't mess up here
 
We haven't learned a thing or 2 from hyping up players before they perform consistently. People said the same about Maqsood, Jamshed, Fawad, Shehzad and look at them now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
He could be good player....no
He could have a bright future.... no no
He could play for a long time...... no no no
He will be a superstar
 
He's a good prospect and should be developed with care.

They have to remain consistent with him. Give him a specific spot in the order and never move him. Just let him develop in that position.

It could be as an opener, #3, or #4. Just keep him there for the next year or so. Its the only way he'll come good.
 
He is a very talented player and so far has done well in his short international career. I hope this guy becomes our Williamson. He has the potential. Just hope that he doesn't go the way of his cousin who also had a good start to his career.
 
The_KING said:
He is a very talented player and so far has done well in his short international career. I hope this guy becomes our Williamson. He has the potential. Just hope that he doesn't go the way of his cousin who also had a good start to his career.
Click to expand...

Needs that KW work ethic.
 
A lot is possible, but for that we need two things right:

1) A consistent run
2) A batting position best suited to his batting and domestic experience.

In Pakistan cricket these things are almost impossible when it is about a new guy.
 
Lol so another thread hyping one of our 'talented' players. Let's all watch him not meet the expectations now and soon brand him a ttf!
 
He is talented for sure, but stop hyping him to the max. Lower your expectations for once.
 
He looks like a good batsmen from whatever I saw of him. He should be consistently picked for ODIs.
 
Pete Rose said:
He could be good player....no
He could have a bright future.... no no
He could play for a long time...... no no no
He will be a superstar
Click to expand...

OP has not used that word.

On topic, Babar has immense potential. And has the capability of becoming a very good batsman for Pak. Along with haris he will carry the batting on his shoulders but haris needs to be fit first.
 
Umar can be a superstar
Ahmed the little angel can be a superstar

and now

Babar can be a superstar

and last time that "can" converted into is was when Younus debuted in year 2000 and that is freaking 16 years ago, so TBH odds are stacked against Babar to become a world class Batsman.
 
The_KING said:
He comes across as a hard working kid. Just hope he doesn't get complacent like many of our players do and keep working on his game.
Click to expand...

We dont know much about his work ethic at present. In 2-3 years it will become clear how much of a hard worker he is. Being a relative of Akmals, I would be skeptical about him even if he has early success because Umar and Kamran too were brilliant in their freshmen years
 
He is one of the better young prospects Pakistan has to offer but is he up to mark? only time will tell.
 
Stop ruining another player let him play don't make him a superhero at the start of his career! This is exactly the same thing that ruined Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad!!
 
How old is he?

Too early in international arena can ruin a player.

There's a reason most boards avoid introducing young kids to international despite showing promise.
 
He is not being groomed properly.

It is blindingly obvious that:

1. Pakistan First Class cricket makes batsmen worse, not better, and
2. Babar Azam and Umar Akmal are your best two batsmen aged under 30, and
3. Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are your best middle-order batsmen aged under 35.

At that point, the selectors should recognise that Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq have to be kicked out from every format, yesterday, to give Babar Azam and Umar Akmal a very long run at number 4 and 5 (between Azhar at 3 and Shafiq at 6) to groom them for their future responsibilities.

It is simply an act of self-harm to obstruct their development and to retain the ancient Younis and Misbah.
 
Junaids said:
He is not being groomed properly.

It is blindingly obvious that:

1. Pakistan First Class cricket makes batsmen worse, not better, and
2. Babar Azam and Umar Akmal are your best two batsmen aged under 30, and
3. Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are your best middle-order batsmen aged under 35.

At that point, the selectors should recognise that Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq have to be kicked out from every format, yesterday, to give Babar Azam and Umar Akmal a very long run at number 4 and 5 (between Azhar at 3 and Shafiq at 6) to groom them for their future responsibilities.

It is simply an act of self-harm to obstruct their development and to retain the ancient Younis and Misbah.
Click to expand...

Umar Akmal has been given trillion opportunities, has not grown a bit (instead has regressed big way)

Not the type of player one should waste anymore space on. Babar does seem a decent version of the Akmal family
 
Itachi said:
How old is he?

Too early in international arena can ruin a player.

There's a reason most boards avoid introducing young kids to international despite showing promise.
Click to expand...

21 I think and he has been playing professional cricket for quite sometime
 
if they let him settle him
1-3 ODI : Batted at NO.4
4th ODI : Batter at NO.6
5-6th ODI : Opened Innings
7th ODI : Back to Numner 4
 
Junaids said:
He is not being groomed properly.

It is blindingly obvious that:

1. Pakistan First Class cricket makes batsmen worse, not better, and
2. Babar Azam and Umar Akmal are your best two batsmen aged under 30, and
3. Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali are your best middle-order batsmen aged under 35.

At that point, the selectors should recognise that Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq have to be kicked out from every format, yesterday, to give Babar Azam and Umar Akmal a very long run at number 4 and 5 (between Azhar at 3 and Shafiq at 6) to groom them for their future responsibilities.

It is simply an act of self-harm to obstruct their development and to retain the ancient Younis and Misbah.
Click to expand...

Younis and Misbah are still effective test cricketers. You can't drop them based on age.

Hafeez
Babar Azam
Azhar Ali
Asad Shafiq
Haris Sohail
Umar Akmal/Fawad Alam

I imagine that is how the lineup will look after YK and Misbah retire. Shafiq is definitely ready to replace one of them and move up the order.

Babar should be groomed for that opening spot starting right now. Shan Masood is useless and Azhar Ali prefers to bat in the middle order.

There is no need to wait for YK or Misbah to retire because Babar Azam won't be replacing them. He should be getting that opener's slot immediately in England.
 
Keep you expectations low bro as he is a pakistani batsman. Let him first find his feet at international level.
 
Madplayer said:
OP has not used that word.

On topic, Babar has immense potential. And has the capability of becoming a very good batsman for Pak. Along with haris he will carry the batting on his shoulders but haris needs to be fit first.
Click to expand...

OK sure. I can be a superstar as well.
 
kingusama92 said:
Younis and Misbah are still effective test cricketers. You can't drop them based on age.

There is no need to wait for YK or Misbah to retire because Babar Azam won't be replacing them. He should be getting that opener's slot immediately in England.
Click to expand...

You have to drop them on age! Otherwise you end up like Spain at the 2014 World Cup, with a team that has aged together and failed to bring youth through.

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are 30, and occupy two of the four middle order positions. In that situation you have to drop the 42 year old and 40 year old sandwiched between them, or else accept a five year cycle of defeats as the price you paid for not grooming your twenty something year olds.
 
The best way to ensure his success is to create a babar azam vs umar akmal thread.
 
Junaids said:
You have to drop them on age! Otherwise you end up like Spain at the 2014 World Cup, with a team that has aged together and failed to bring youth through.

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are 30, and occupy two of the four middle order positions. In that situation you have to drop the 42 year old and 40 year old sandwiched between them, or else accept a five year cycle of defeats as the price you paid for not grooming your twenty something year olds.
Click to expand...

This is going to be a disaster, but we have never been visionary about making changes before calamity.
 
Superstar as an opener or a middle order batsman? His supporters will have excuses for both positions.

A) He fails as an opener - Play him in the middle order he was getting runs there.

B) He fails as a middle order batsman - Play him as an opener he is being underused.

I still doubt his potential, considering he is directly related to the Akmals. He is being hyped to no ends. As was the case with Umar Akmal, he might not be as good as his fans make him out to be.

Judging by his batting stance, he struggles facing the new ball, and left arm over the wicket seam bowling.
 
Last edited:
Junaids said:
You have to drop them on age! Otherwise you end up like Spain at the 2014 World Cup, with a team that has aged together and failed to bring youth through.

Azhar Ali and Asad Shafiq are 30, and occupy two of the four middle order positions. In that situation you have to drop the 42 year old and 40 year old sandwiched between them, or else accept a five year cycle of defeats as the price you paid for not grooming your twenty something year olds.
Click to expand...
If you drop YK and Misbah, this team will get swept in England and Australia. They're our main performers.

Coach and selectors would lose their jobs if we lost after dropping them and rightly so.

Don't forget Misbah is also skipper. You want to debut Azhar Ali's captaincy in the hardest places to tour?

It's not logical at all. The vets can be retired after the Aussie tour. The way it was planned.
 
[MENTION=8597]kingusama92[/MENTION] it doesn't matter.

Consider Umar Akmal. He was dropped from Tests at the age of 21 years and 2 months, with a perfectly good average of 36, almost entirely made outside Asia.

And four and a half years out in the cold has ruined him, and made him arguably unsalvageable.

Misbah and Younis will fail sooner or later, and probably it will be this year outside Asia. But there is nobody to replace them, because Umar Akmal's career was sacrificed to accommodate Misbah and because Babar Azam has not been prepared for international cricket.

I repeat, if you pick two 30 year olds in your middle order, then Misbah and Younis' positions are required for younger men. Otherwise when they retire, you have nobody ready to step up.
 
Junaids said:
[MENTION=8597]kingusama92[/MENTION] it doesn't matter.

Consider Umar Akmal. He was dropped from Tests at the age of 21 years and 2 months, with a perfectly good average of 36, almost entirely made outside Asia.

And four and a half years out in the cold has ruined him, and made him arguably unsalvageable.

Misbah and Younis will fail sooner or later, and probably it will be this year outside Asia. But there is nobody to replace them, because Umar Akmal's career was sacrificed to accommodate Misbah and because Babar Azam has not been prepared for international cricket.

I repeat, if you pick two 30 year olds in your middle order, then Misbah and Younis' positions are required for younger men. Otherwise when they retire, you have nobody ready to step up.
Click to expand...
Umar Akmal was kept out because these guys were better.

That's meritocracy.

Shafiq and Ali were able to develop nicely because of YK and Misbah offering stability + guidance.

Development is fine but after the big tours are done.

You can try the younger guys in an easier home series (UAE) after Australia. Although, Babar should take the opener slot immediately.
 
In elite sport you can't just pick your best players - not that Misbah was better than Umar Akmal at that time. Just as the veterans brought on Azhar and Shafiq, now they must bring on Babar and Umar.

A team needs constant renewal. If Misbah had to be picked as skipper, then Younis should have exited at the end of 2014 to give Babar Azam the eight Tests in 2015 to get established before the big tours in 2016.

Already even in the UAE when the ball has been new we have seen Younis and Misbah unable to survive. Outside Asia this year there will be no spinners for them to score off, and their awful late-career footwork is obviously going to end their careers in humiliation, several years after they should have both retired with their dignity intact.
 
The guy needs to establish himself and prove his potential first before being labelled as a superstar, and for that he needs a longer run. It's too early to make a call.
 
CricFan2012 said:
I have watched every single one of his innings, this boy is special. He has it in him to become a real superstar for the Pakistan cricket team.

He already has impressive list A stats and had a decent debut, from here on out he needs to be given a go for every tour. I think it is too early to choose him for tests but he needs to be a permanent fixture in the one day side.

I honestly think he can score over 10000 runs in odi if pcb don't mess up here
Click to expand...

Some Pakistani fans never learn do they? There have been many supposed future 'superstars'.

Keep your expectations low.
 
The_KING said:
He is a very talented player and so far has done well in his short international career. I hope this guy becomes our Williamson. He has the potential. Just hope that he doesn't go the way of his cousin who also had a good start to his career.
Click to expand...

Good comparison to Kane Williamson. Babar should open in T20's and bat at number 4 in ODI's. I can't believe hacks like Sohaib Maqsood have been preferred over him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
gazza619 said:
Good comparison to Kane Williamson. Babar should open in T20's and bat at number 4 in ODI's. I can't believe hacks like Sohaib Maqsood have been preferred over him.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Really?

Is it really a good comparison?

Comparing a rookie to a world class batsmen, almost at the top of the world?

Pakistanis rate players at the start line, instead of the middle of the race, and then when they are last place in the standings, everyone who put them on that pedestal in the first place, are the first ones to point the finger. Unbelievable stuff.
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
Really?

Is it really a good comparison?

Comparing a rookie to a world class batsmen, almost at the top of the world?

Pakistanis rate players at the start line, instead of the middle of the race, and then when they are last place in the standings, everyone who put them on that pedestal in the first place, are the first ones to point the finger. Unbelievable stuff.
Click to expand...

I meant that Babar Azam is a kind of unattractive orthodox player who should look to become like Williamson. I mean Babar Azam can not be a Brian Lara or a Tendulkar, neither does he have the skill level of an Inzi.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
gazza619 said:
I meant that Babar Azam is a kind of unattractive orthodox player who should look to become like Williamson. I mean Babar Azam can not be a Brian Lara or a Tendulkar, neither does he have the skill level of an Inzi.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

But he can't be even said in the same sentence.

Trying to emulate is one thing, but to say "become like Williamson" would insinuate he is a world class batsmen.

I understand, and yet I don't.

At this point, we should put no labels, and let him become what he does, and then when there is a sample size to make a judgement, then we can say well he looks like X or Y, and he can improve by doing Z or A.
 
Ilan Bluestone said:
But he can't be even said in the same sentence.

Trying to emulate is one thing, but to say "become like Williamson" would insinuate he is a world class batsmen.

I understand, and yet I don't.

At this point, we should put no labels, and let him become what he does, and then when there is a sample size to make a judgement, then we can say well he looks like X or Y, and he can improve by doing Z or A.
Click to expand...

Fair enough.

The fact that Pakistan doesn't even have half a decent batsman nowadays makes us sound a bit desperate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
gazza619 said:
Fair enough.

The fact that Pakistan doesn't even have half a decent batsman nowadays makes us sound a bit desperate.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Not a bit. The yearning to believe player A or B is or will be a star, before they can even sit upright, let alone walk, is disturbing.
 
Apart from deserving players, everyone in pakistan can become a superstar thanks to fans who have zero understanding of merit and potential. Afridi and Akmals two respective examples.
 
Last edited:
Babar Azam: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Looks like he is batting on a different pitch entirely. So much authority in his batting unlike our cowardly "seniors" like Shehzad and Hafeez operating on a test wicket.

He is dynamic with boundary hitting.

He is confident with quick singles.

And he is sensible by turning down hafeez when needed and not going after everything.

Today is his day. Maybe Allah intended for NZ to score 280 by hook or crook, because now we will see what Babar Azam is made of.

I think he is made of steel.

Take us home, son.
 
THAT shot off Santner, oh man!!!

All of our lame batsmen struggle vs him and he smashed him back 2 back, like Drake did to Meek Mill.
 
OP has a habit of starting dramabaazi threads like this.
 
He is a good batsman regardless of what he does today. But its only upto him to make the most of his ability. I hyped him to the skies before his debut but now i want to tone it down a bit and say lets just wait and watch.
 
He is the next superstar of Pakistani batting. I'm sure he'll come good in tests as well. Will end up as the best batsman in Pakistan's history after Miandad
 
Way too early.

BUT, he's the best Pakistani batting prospect I've seen in the past 10 years.

Very mature.
 
We thought this about Maqsood, and after 26 games he averages an amazing 33
 
Gritty innings so far... Imagine a future middle order of Haris, Babar and Rizwan... All are positive minded batsmen unlike the current bunch of outdated ones... I can say wow out of excitement...
 
Last edited:
Lone warrior right now as the entire army around him is getting slaughtered. Looks like 300 out there with Babar Azam playing the Gerard Butler role. Can he finish the Persian king (Williamson) once and for all?
 
Suleiman said:
Lone warrior right now as the entire army around him is getting slaughtered. Looks like 300 out there with Babar Azam playing the Gerard Butler role. Can he finish the Persian king (Williamson) once and for all?
Click to expand...

if he will then ill rate this inning as one of the best anyways looking impossible
 
Last edited:
The thing that stands out about Babar compared to all other youngish batsmen in the country is he does not need to improvise or slog to keep ticking the scoring like Shahzad, Akmal, Maqsood et al which by design him batting lower risk. Probably the only young player in pakistan who has a repertoire of cricketing shots against a variety of bowling.
 
It looks like after every youngster gets a fifty or a couple of wickets they are hailed as "the next" whatever...come on people setting your expectations so high in other people is why you will be disappointed
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Obaidd
  • Poll Poll
Will Babar Azam reach 10k Test runs?
2
Replies
101
Views
3K
BouncerGuy
BouncerGuy
Pakistani Pace
Say What You Want, But Babar Azam Is Still Pakistan’s Most Gifted Batsman
Replies
34
Views
598
starpain
S
BouncerGuy
“I do not think Babar Azam or Mohammad Rizwan can be ruled out completely”: Salman Butt
Replies
18
Views
1K
RedwoodOriginal
RedwoodOriginal
BouncerGuy
[EXCLUSIVE] "Dropping Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan was a wrong decision": Mudassar Nazar
Replies
47
Views
2K
GudduBadmash
GudduBadmash
Cricket Warrior
"If you can win these kinds of games, then you must be a special team": Salman Ali Agha
Replies
49
Views
1K
jnaveen1980
J
Back
Top