[EXCLUSIVE] "Babar Azam was used totally wrong at the World Cup": Samit Patel

[Ball Blazer]

In this exclusive interview, Samit Patel, former England all-rounder and global T20 franchise veteran, shares his blunt assessment of England's T20 World Cup campaign, the Ashes lessons, India's dominance, and Pakistan cricket's deepest structural flaws. The 41-year-old, who has played in every major league worldwide, opens up about continuity, trust, and why Pakistan keeps getting it wrong.

Key revelations include:

• England's Ashes mistake: "We missed a trick in that first Test match" – Patel defends England’s performance, stating they played decent cricket but were simply outclassed by India in the semi-finals.

• India's separation: "India are a class apart" – He highlights that the Indian management backs their players consistently. Patel identifies India as being "a class apart" due to their immense depth and tactical clarity.

• Pakistan's core problem: "Don't be hasty. Give guys more chances" – Patel observes that Pakistan struggles because they don't trust their players enough and are too hasty in making changes.

• Babar Azam misused: "Pakistan used Babar totally wrong in that World Cup – Babar Azam, whom he believes was used incorrectly in the World Cup; Patel argues Babar should always bat at number three so others can play their roles around him.

• The Saim Ayub blueprint: "Build a team around Saim Ayub" – He strongly advocates for building the future team around young talent Saim Ayub.

• IPL auction hypocrisy: "Why put yourself in an auction then just pull out?" – Patel believes that once a player signs for a tournament, they should honor that commitment. He finds it confusing when players like Ben Duckett or Harry Brook enter the IPL auction only to pull out later.

• T20 league saturation? "Every country is going to want its league" – He does not believe the market is saturated, welcoming New Zealand’s move to start its own franchise league as it provides more exposure for players and coaches.

• Still playing at 41: "I still want to play one more year" – Patel, now 41, is currently in talks with English counties and aims to play at least one more year of professional and franchise cricket.

Watch full interview with Saj here:

 

[Cricket Warrior]

@Rana sahab... looking forward for your expert opinion on your favourite player!

 

[Rana]

@Rana sahab... looking forward for your expert opinion on your favourite player!

What’s the point?

Who cares what ex players or experts think about Babar’s correct position? Even if Lara, Tendulkar and Ponting tell him that his best position is not opening….Babar still wants to open and that’s it!

 

[pakistani pride]

Was he also used in a wrong way in the 2 WCs (T20) before 2026?

 

[Varun]

• England's Ashes mistake: "We missed a trick in that first Test match" – Patel defends England’s performance, stating they played decent cricket but were simply outclassed by India in the semi-finals.

Sorry what?

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Samit is a cricketing icon. Nice interview and nice to see him still going strong.

 

[shah9425]

Babar is done

He can't play at any number now

Wherever he plays it will be a test match innings in a T20 match

 

[Rafale Nidhal Fan]

He is right, Babar was used totally wrong. He was supposed to be used on the bench.

 

[Ball Blazer]

Babar is doing great in Psl
He seems in decent form perhaps due to batting position

 

[shaz619]

Samir’s been eating totally wrong his whole career, why should I take his opinion seriously.

Hd wasted his talent and threw away the chances he was given.

A disgrace to all aspiring asian cricketers because he reinforced the stereotypes @Rana

Am glad Mo kept out bums like Patel & Dawson.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Patel retires after disapproved league ban

Samit Patel, who has announced his retirement from domestic cricket, says he "probably wouldn't have played" in a disapproved T20 league earlier this year had he known it would result in a ban.

Former England all-rounder Patel, 41, and Australian bowler Peter Siddle are both unable to play in the T20 Blast this summer after competing in the World Legends Pro T20 League in Goa.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) says players cannot play domestic cricket for 12 months if they have participated in a "disapproved" league such as this.

As a result, Patel has retired from domestic cricket in England but says he will still be playing franchise cricket elsewhere in the world.

"I probably wouldn't have played it [the World Legends League]," Patel told BBC Sport's Strategic Timeout programme.

"There was a lot of uncertainty about whether we could play or not but we can't get past that now. It just brought this stuff forward for me."

Patel played 60 times for England between 2008 and 2015 and made 629 appearances for Nottinghamshire over 22 years.

He then joined Derbyshire on a two-year white-ball deal in 2024 and was out of contract when he left the club at the end of last year's T20 Blast, but said he would have liked "one more year" of domestic cricket if he had not been dealt the ban.

"I would have played this summer," he said. "I had some chats with some counties, we weren't quite at a contract signing but we were in talks, so probably would've got a last-minute deal somewhere."

Patel and Ravi Bopara, who also retired earlier this year, are the only two players to have featured in every year of the Blast since it began in 2003.

Patel made his first-class and List A debuts for Nottinghamshire as a teenager in 2002, and was part of their County Championship-winning sides in 2005 and 2010.

He also won the One-Day Cup in 2013 when it was a 40-over tournament, and was instrumental in helping the Outlaws to double white-ball success in 2017, when he also earned the Professional Cricket Association's Most Valuable Player and the PCA Player of the Year awards.

Across all formats, Patel finished his Nottinghamshire career with more than 25,000 runs and took more than 800 wickets with his left-arm spin.

In his two years at Derbyshire, Patel scored 528 runs and took 33 wickets while he also represented Trent Rockets and Northern Superchargers in The Hundred.

Patel played six Tests, 36 ODIs and 18 T20s for England but fitness issues held him back from earning a regular place in the side.

He made his last England appearance in 2015, a Test match against Pakistan in Sharjah, and ended his career without playing a home Test.

BBC

 

[Snowflake]

Anyone who says Pakistan's core problem is frequent chopping and changing of the players has ZERO idea about Pakistan cricket.

For the last 5 years, we've pretty much stuck with the same core group of players regardless of the results. We've lost series after series, tournaments after tournaments, while our rankings have tanked - yet, we see the same faces getting chances after chances.

Also, I cannot believe some people, let alone ex-cricketers, are still advocating for this "anchor" role for Babar where others can "play around him". Must be nice to get the easiest role in the team Player at a 100 strike rate in a T20 while other do all the heavy lifting. Unbelievable.

 

[pakistani pride]

Babar is doing great in Psl
He seems in decent form perhaps due to batting position

LOL, maybe something to do with the poor quality of bowling vs top class bowling in ICC WT20, maybe just maybe?

 

[Rana]

Used totally wrong?

He in the squad was totally wrong!!

 

[Cric1234]

Samit is right they must have used him totally wrong because he has a strike rate of 99 in the last 3 World T20s....... Misbah has improved him so we should see a new Babar now for Pakistan...... Or maybe not.

 

[Ball Blazer]

LOL, maybe something to do with the poor quality of bowling vs top class bowling in ICC WT20, maybe just maybe?

So you wont agree to the point that batting position didnt suit him in Wt20?

 

[sithb]

Point most people fail to realise is that even if the likes of Babar accelerate towards the end and post a score with a strike rate of 150-160. That still wouldnt account for them going at 110-120 for the majority of their innings.

That one 15-18 runs over if it does come at the end doesn't really lift the overall score that much , instead keeps more pressure on the other batsmen to hit from the get go. Pakistan might just reach a score 10 - 15 below par even if babar gets firing in the last overs.

Lot of batsmen have been guilty of that especially in the t20s. The format has changed massively now. Players playing 20-25 balls and getting to 30 are expected to post 80 of 40 now.

 

[sithb]

Otherwise they are expected to hit out and allow other batsmen to get set and then hit.

Babar does neither. The opponents are perfectly happy when he's wasting 20 deliveries because the chances are that he's not going to make his batting count too much

 

[Chuggy]

Point most people fail to realise is that even if the likes of Babar accelerate towards the end and post a score with a strike rate of 150-160. That still wouldnt account for them going at 110-120 for the majority of their innings.

That one 15-18 runs over if it does come at the end doesn't really lift the overall score that much , instead keeps more pressure on the other batsmen to hit from the get go. Pakistan might just reach a score 10 - 15 below par even if babar gets firing in the last overs.

Lot of batsmen have been guilty of that especially in the t20s. The format has changed massively now. Players playing 20-25 balls and getting to 30 are expected to post 80 of 40 now.

It's his initial acceleration that is the problem. Not that there is any comparison but Kohli would play at similar pace early but his clutch batting near the end of his innings is where he set himself apart from everyone else in that Indian side. Babar never had that gear and when he forces it, he looks out of sorts completely alas T20 WC 2026. He can play Odis but T20 requires an extra gear which unfortunately he never developed and this psl season plus journalists and ex players will make sure now he never does.

 

[sithb]

Kohli faced this problem as well. That's the reason he took retirement from t20s. Babar is a much more restricted batsman than Kohli (all the more reason why he would face a greater problem)

Even in the T20 world cup where Kohli eventually scored in the final , there were question marks throughout on whether he was really suited for the modern T20 game.

 

[sithb]

I don't think his initial scoring rate is the problem. He can't up the tempo. Really doesn't matter if he was 20 off 12 even. Teams are happy enough containing him after the powerplay.

 

[Vikram1989]

Yeah, when used properly in t20 wcs in 21, 22, 24 and odi 23 wc he was the man of the series.

 

[sithb]

Rohit can play a part in the ODIs because he sets the pace for the first 6-15 overs. Kohli plays a part because he can accumulate in the middle overs and hold the fort to ensure a decent competitive score.

Babar doesn't really have a role even in ODIs. Both formats that the likes of Kohli and Rohit sleep walk through.

Teams will be chasing 320-350 very soon or setting those targets soon too. Don't see babar azam ever being a part of that even in the dying format that the ODIs are

 

[Sachin fan]

Point most people fail to realise is that even if the likes of Babar accelerate towards the end and post a score with a strike rate of 150-160. That still wouldnt account for them going at 110-120 for the majority of their innings.

That one 15-18 runs over if it does come at the end doesn't really lift the overall score that much , instead keeps more pressure on the other batsmen to hit from the get go. Pakistan might just reach a score 10 - 15 below par even if babar gets firing in the last overs.

Lot of batsmen have been guilty of that especially in the t20s. The format has changed massively now. Players playing 20-25 balls and getting to 30 are expected to post 80 of 40 now.

Yes, I love to give this example

Let's say a batsman A starts at 40 ball 50. Then he plays 25 more balls and scores 50 more at over 200 strike rate . So ends innings on 65 ball 100. Seems respectable strike rate of 155?

Now scenario two, batsman B scores 40 ball 65. Thats a strike rate of 162 only. Then gets out. Batsman C scores another 45 runs in 25 balls at a strike rate of 180, which is way less than the 200 strike rate which batsman A scored in his last 25 balls.

Together B and C score 10 runs more despite C going way slower in the end.

Balls once lost in t20 doens't come back even if you accelerate later to make strike rate deem decent. In modern t20 batsmen should start strong even if you get out early.

 

[sithb]

Yes, I love to give this example

Let's say a batsman A starts at 40 ball 50. Then he plays 25 more balls and scores 50 more at over 200 strike rate . So ends innings on 65 ball 100. Seems respectable strike rate of 155?

Now scenario two, batsman B scores 40 ball 65. Thats a strike rate of 162 only. Then gets out. Batsman C scores another 45 runs in 25 balls at a strike rate of 180, which is way less than the 200 strike rate which batsman A scored in his last 25 balls.

Together B and C score 10 runs more despite C going way slower in the end.

Balls once lost in t20 doens't come back even if you accelerate later to make strike rate deem decent. In modern t20 batsmen should start strong even if you get out early.

And someone who's playing the slightly slow game really needs to back himself for the grand finish.

We've seen this with Abhishek during the last match in IPL. He got wet. He made sure he scored a 140 odd in 68 balls.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Yes, I love to give this example

Let's say a batsman A starts at 40 ball 50. Then he plays 25 more balls and scores 50 more at over 200 strike rate . So ends innings on 65 ball 100. Seems respectable strike rate of 155?

Now scenario two, batsman B scores 40 ball 65. Thats a strike rate of 162 only. Then gets out. Batsman C scores another 45 runs in 25 balls at a strike rate of 180, which is way less than the 200 strike rate which batsman A scored in his last 25 balls.

Together B and C score 10 runs more despite C going way slower in the end.

Balls once lost in t20 doens't come back even if you accelerate later to make strike rate deem decent. In modern t20 batsmen should start strong even if you get out early.

Yet you will do bhangra over tullar striking at 115 against SENAI. Agenda driven backwas posting.