My last post on this topic - point by point. Let's get some common things out of the way:
1. Karachi Kings has lost all its games
2. Babar is their top scorer
3. Babar has a SR of 120
4. All this team mates are rubbish and not worth the paper their names are written on - in that case, the team sheet.
5. A change in Karachi Kings' approach is in order.
OK Let's go:
Trying to project yourself as intellectually superior to others.
First of, I didn't engage with your entire earlier post because you are consistently personal and assume stuff on my behalf.
Fact is you completely dodged some very relevant points I made. Probably because you knew they were true.
...and again
And since you have taken the decision of insulting me and calling my points "whatabouttery" and "fallacies"
No I didn't insult you. I am talking about Babar and you are talking about others that they are bad. Yes, others are bad, but let's focus on what Babar can do better.
B, allow me to present some quantifiable facts to further strengthen my argument. Here are the averages and strike-rates of Karachi Kings batsmen this season:B
Sharjeel avg: 22, SR: 129
Joe Clarke avg: 26, SR: 109
Ian Cockbain avg: 15.6, SR: 127
Mohammad Nabi avg: 19.4, SR: 119
Lewis Gregory avg: 14.6, SR: 86
Sahibzada Farhan avg: 11.3, SR: 117
Imad Wasim avg: 8.75, SR: 89.7
Babar on the other hand averages 50.6 this season with a SR of 120. He is the only player from Karachi Kings who has crossed 50 twice and besides him Sharjeel Khan is the only player who has crossed 50 even once.
He has also scored 253 runs (the second most is 133 by Sharjeel). This means that not only is he scoring most of the runs but he also has one of the highest strike rates in a side where most guys are struggling to cross 20 on average and bat with any sort of impetus. If anything these numbers show that Karachi Kings have no power-hitters in their side. Because they have all batted like tail-enders. These are the facts. Not opinions or fallacies or whattabotery, but facts.
Good points. Here is my counter.
Karachi Kings lost all these matches!!!!
The currency is not Babar's 50s. The currency is results.
With Babar scoring runs, Karachi is losing. If you take out Babar and put me in the team, Karachi will still lose, by a bigger margin. So what's Babar's value in terms of results?
In not too distant past, Misbah used to score slow 50s in Pakistan's losses, until he left and Pakistan started winning. Again happened when he left as coach with Babar scoring slow 50s. England had similar problems until Morgan changed their approach to all out aggression.
The issue at hand is not other players' rubbishness, which is true. The issues at hand is this: What can Babar do to change results as the team's best batsman, knowing he has to make up for others?
Currently, rather than helping, he is piling pressure on them. Yesterday Karachi Kings were 60 off 60 balls chasing 200. They were only one wicket down, yet Babar was 29 off 26, with 7 dot balls. That left them needing 134 off the other 60 balls. What kind of pressure do you expect the following batsmen will be under?
You could argue that Sharjeel or Clarke should have done much better and you'd be right. But we already know they are struggling. I'd also argue even if they are hitting out and succeeding, Babar's slowness with one or two slow overs will put them back under pressure to hit out more.
Here is my hypothetical: if you replace Babar with Warner or Rohit, Karachi King will have an entirely different mindset of setting and approaching targets, they would be 90 off 60 balls, possibly 2 or 3 down. I'd also argue all other players will improve too.
Here I am not talking about Babar as captain, just as the pacesetter at the top of the order.
And unless you have quantifiable facts to support your hypothesis that "an average of low 30s @140+ SR >> an average of 40+ @ <130SR" there is nothing that says that is the case.
Yes I can't. But neither can you with a guy scoring 50s @120 and losing game after game.
It is not his fault. With his game, he is perfectly suited to a far superior national team, but even in that case, setting or chasing 200 will be a matter of many things coming together, rather than design.
My point on the other hand is fairly simple. A guy who averages 30 with a high strike-rate has a statically higher chance of failing on any given day than someone who averages 40 with a lower strike-rate. In a format where failure is something batters are accustomed to seeing having someone in your side who has a very low probability of failing is not only incredibly rare but a blessing that not every team has.
Yes I will agree, a guy on 30s with a higher strike rate will fail more often. But he will also fail faster.
My entire argument is this: You are better off getting out for 130 going for 200, rather than play slowly and securely to score 150 each time. 150s are extremely poor odds for victory.