Babar Azam vs other Pakistan batsmen: Why the huge discrepancy?

[Stewie]

We always hear about how Pakistan has always been known more for producing bowlers and when it comes to our batsmen, they have always been hot and cold.. very good on their day and then may look clueless the next day... lately, pakistani batting has been looking more the latter than the former.. after the last great batting stalwarts (Yousaf, Misbah, Younis) left the scene, we have been predominantly dependent on players struggling to put average scores and then maybe and hopefully one or two have a good day and we can get a decent total on the board.

But against quality opposition and difficult conditions, we mostly struggle.

Then comes babar azam and shows us how consistent he is. He makes it all look really easy and is now undisputed top batsman for pakistan and he is only the n his mid twenties. Unlike a glut of others (hafeez, malik, shafiq) who have years of experience now and still not as consistent as babar.

So my question is: why such a big difference? What has babar done so differently in his career that makes hin stand out? Has he had different coaches? Did he come through a dofferent system compared with the others? Is he simply highly talented (not likely) or just a case of temperament? If so why cant other batsmen learn from him and adapt uis approach and temperament to the game? Is it really difficult to teach this stuff? Cant aspiring cricketers learn from each other?

 

[Bilal7]

Virat Kohli vs other Indian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Steven Smith vs other Australian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Kane Williamson vs... You get the point. The reason is simply that these guys are better players. I don't get why this is even a question, anyone who watches sports knows that some players are simply better than the others.

 

[Madplayer]

1) A bit of Natural talent.
2) Identified early by coaches.
3) grew up in the system rather than struggling to find a spot in clubs and domestic teams like many players ( perhaps akmal connections helped)
4) Got a chance in national side at an early age compared to many other batsmen.

 

[Savak]

I am not sold on Babar Azam to be honest. You just get the impression that he is more at ease in low key games when there is no hope or pressure of expectations. Against the big boys on the big occasion, he will wilt. Saw enough in the NZ tour 2018 and Asia Cup to get this feeling.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Better temperament works within his limitations. He doesn't try to be someone else. He sits somewhere between Afridi batting culture and Misba batting culture.

 

[Abdullah Rabbani]

Hunger For Runs Passion , Hardwork.

Saud And Saad Ali is there with him if they get chance...
Sami aslam is also good if he get rope

 

[Markhor]

Babar was identified early and brought through the NCA where he was carefully groomed and developed.

 

[ManFan]

I am not sold on Babar Azam to be honest. You just get the impression that he is more at ease in low key games when there is no hope or pressure of expectations. Against the big boys on the big occasion, he will wilt. Saw enough in the NZ tour 2018 and Asia Cup to get this feeling.

He was the second best batsman behind Imam in the Asia Cup.

 

[Mamoon]

In cricketing terms, he was born with a golden spoon.

By the time he was old enough to take cricket seriously, his cousin was playing for Pakistan and he had access to NCA and all the best coaches/mentors in the country.

PCB took him under its wing at a stage where most other cricketers were toiling in the streets or doing other jobs to earn a living.

He also did not face any opposition from his family and there was no pressure on him to be there bread earner and support his parents and siblings.

The platform was set for him, and it was only a question of him having the talent and the passion for the game, which luckily he had.

All of these factors have collectively enabled him to distinguish himself from the other batsmen in the country.

However, I should add that there is no discrepancy between him and the others when it comes bottling under pressure.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Few things went in Babar's way apart from his talent and hard work.

Being from a big city like Lahore and got the necessary backing.
Identified at a very young age.
Lucky not be become a part of politics.
And now once he is in the team coach, captain and chief selector are fully behind him.

Players like Zeeshan Malik, Saud Shakeel aren't far behind but few things didnt go their way.

Haris was as good as Babar in his age but was handled extremely poorly by the management of that time. He even was first selected for t20s which is his weakest format. Lol!

 

[Markhor]

I am not sold on Babar Azam to be honest. You just get the impression that he is more at ease in low key games when there is no hope or pressure of expectations. Against the big boys on the big occasion, he will wilt. Saw enough in the NZ tour 2018 and Asia Cup to get this feeling.

He was the second best batsman behind Imam in the Asia Cup.

If you look at ODI performances in 2018 against the top nine sides, Babar Azam averages 11 at a SR of 53 from 8 innings.

Not a single fifty so he has got to step up in this series against New Zealand.

 

[Titan24]

Virat Kohli vs other Indian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Steven Smith vs other Australian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Kane Williamson vs... You get the point. The reason is simply that these guys are better players. I don't get why this is even a question, anyone who watches sports knows that some players are simply better than the others.

This sums it up nicely.

I hope we can develop one more such sound batsman soon. Imam is going in the right direction but Haris has been a big disappointment considering his talent and some unnecessary upish shots he plays.

 

[Hawkeye]

Many people in PAK cricket were born with a golden spoon, 99% were not as successful. It's not about the privilege only.

Babar is just doing the basics right.

He's doing what Inzi and MoYo used to do right. Don't play too many dot balls, have some timing and shot playing skills against the pacers. Stay on the crease, value your wicket.

As a result, you'd be pretty decent in ODIs.


Now in modern cricket, you also need an extra gear to become a "great". So far he's very good! But need that extra gear to truly compete with the likes of AB, Kohli, Ponting.

 

[Syed1]

Early identification and completed all the hurdles of the system. He was playing u19 cricket at 12-13 years old.


Most other kids are just starting to get into cricket at that age or starting to play gully cricket.

 

[gazza619]

There is a certain selfishness in Babar’s game. I am not saying this in a bad way. How often does Babar take chances? never really. Most of his scoring shots are safe. The one shot where he does take a risk early on is when he tries to cut the ball outside off stump. Even that stroke is a 50/50 in terms of risk.

Whenever he is nearing a 50 or a 100, he would ease into taking singles to get there. You need to be selfish as a batsman sometimes to succeed.

 

[rhony]

Attitude. I know people say he was born with a golden spoon and all. But look at how he buckles down with full focus despite the Akmal influence in family. There is absolutely no controversy about this guy. He does his hard yards, hones his talent and performs day in and day out. Everybody likes him. He's got that hunger to score runs.

He is smiliar to that topper kid in your class who doesn't care about new bikes or shoes or girls. All he wants is to Ace that exam

 

[hadi123]

He's not great. Performs when the pressure is low and against mediocre teams.

 

[Abdullah Rabbani]

He not born with golden spoon, even kamran said we don't help him much, golden spoon boys are shan masood , imam ,bazid khan ,umar akmal and faisal iqbal where these guys are...

Even in an interview imam said to ramiz i don't know how is so consistent babar in international games we played together in u19...

 

[m.shah]

He needs to perform against bigger teams after that such threads should be made. He is similar to many other pak batsmen when playing against big teams.

 

[Bhaijaan]

Bobby has not made it yet. There are guys like Fakhar, Imam who have very impressive stars as well early in their careers but mostly playing mediocre teams in meaningless games. The world cricket on he whole still remains unaware of these kids because not much buzz. Fakhar when he smashed big match knocks one after the other in the champions trophy did create a buzz. Everyone noticed him. Everyone started talking about this new kid. More than they ever did for Bobby. Still early days though.

Umar Akmal was way bigger than Bobby in his first 2 years because he created that buzz.

Bobby needs to create impact. Good averse is nice but what about that SR? What about going berserk when the team needs it ?He has to do it. Otherwise he will remain this unknown Pakistani with good stats. Ryan Ten Doeschate has a batting average of 60 no one cares. Ask why? You get the point.

Create buzz. Smash big teams in big tournament. Bully a top bowler. That’s how you become great and get people talking. Today bobby I don’t know what he is to Pakistani fans but to us neutral fans he is still a nobody. I’m sorry if it hurts some people but that’s how it is.

 

[Zakaz]

Virat Kohli vs other Indian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Steven Smith vs other Australian batsmen: Why the huge difference?

Kane Williamson vs... You get the point. The reason is simply that these guys are better players. I don't get why this is even a question, anyone who watches sports knows that some players are simply better than the others.

But India is filled with good batsmen, some like rohit sharma seem even more talented than kohli...

 

[Flat_Track_Bully]

Natural ability and is intelligent. Also temperament which is key in sport.