[EXCLUSIVE] "Sachin faced positive pressure, Babar faces hostility": Jonathan Agnew

[Cricket Warrior]

In our latest exclusive interview, Jonathan Agnew – former England cricketer, BBC Radio’s legendary voice of cricket, and Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1988 – shares his unfiltered insights on Pakistan cricket, India-Pakistan tensions, and the future of the sport. Fresh from his recent trip to Pakistan, Aggers dives into the highs and lows of cricket diplomacy, team dynamics, and the challenges facing modern formats.

Key highlights of the interview:

Security and Hospitality in Pakistan: Agnew expressed his appreciation for Pakistan’s hospitality and security arrangements. Traveling with his wife, he stated, “We felt completely safe in Pakistan,” countering the longstanding concerns in some quarters about touring the country.

Champions Trophy and Unfair Logistics: He criticized the scheduling of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, suggesting that Lahore would have been a “brilliant final venue”, but logistical decisions seemed to favor India, raising concerns about fairness in international cricket.

Pakistan’s Leadership Crisis: According to Agnew, Pakistan cricket appears “rather rudderless,” with instability at the leadership level affecting the team’s performance. He also reflected on Jason Gillespie’s short-lived coaching stint, labeling it a failed experiment due to deeper structural issues.

Babar Azam versus Sachin Tendulkar – A Pressure Comparison: Drawing a comparison between two batting greats, Agnew noted that “Sachin had positive pressure, but with Babar, it’s a bit more hostile.” He emphasized how criticism of Babar Azam often feels more intense and unforgiving, unlike that on Sachin Tendulkar, who received support even in tough times.

The Decline of 50-Over Cricket: Agnew believes ODI cricket is struggling to stay relevant, stating bluntly, “50-over cricket is in terminal decline.” With the T20 format dominating global cricket, he questioned whether ODIs could survive in their current form.

An Emotional Experience at Wagah Border: Agnew described his visit to the India-Pakistan Wagah border as “absolutely extraordinary.” He was deeply moved by the patriotic fervor on both sides, making it a highlight of his trip.

Watch full interview here:

 

[rpant_gabba]

by what count is Babar a batting great?

 

[pratiktc]

Agnew is a respected commentator but these guys really should refrain from talking about what they dont know much about. Especially regarding Indo-Pak relations and desi fan culture.

Reality is during SRT time also there were several toxic desi fans who would find excuses to criticize SRT. However these did not have a platform to make their views mainstream. Today rise of podcasters/Insta/Twitter/influencers make landscape very different and modern cricketers must accept trolling and criticism as part and parcel of their lifestyle in public eye.

The 90s and 00s white ball formats also allowed the space for batters to excercise a degree of selfishness. It was par for course to slow down near a milestone and anchoring was a legit valued role. SRT has done it several times as did Ganguly but the era did not attract so much criticism because ODIs were just a sped up version of Tests. It was even ok to prioritise getting an individual high score in a big chase over team target if the situation seemed hopeless (i.e. 8-9+ rpo)

Babar is in an era where there is no room for self over team. Despite this he has been either incapable or outright refused to evolve depending on what sources you listen to. This despite veterans like Kohli and Faf also retooling their games in mid 30s to fit into this high SR era.

He has rightly been pilloried for this and his lack of big stage performances. While I agree sometimes trolling becomes unkind and personal, the modern cricketer should be able to distance themselves from it and address the valid criticisms. Babar hasn't and this has further fueled both trolling and criticism.

 

[pakistani pride]

Babar batting great - based on what?
Also how on earth can anyone with even 1% cricket knowledge compare Babar with SRT?

 

[ads101]

We’ve always been to critical of our players. It’s like revelling in their downfall. When you have so much criticism and pressure for players who are playing in a mid level team, it takes its toll. They can’t win every tournament/game and alleviate that pressure because they are not a top team. In the same way they can not focus on improvement over a long period to become a top team as people want results now. Saw it with Umar akmal, the guy showed promise and then expected to become the next Kohli, win tournaments etc. We couldn’t just let him play with little pressure. And the guy crumbled under expectations.

I know there’s this high standards mantra as fans, but in reality I don’t think this works. Just demanding high standards achieves little. Players usually play their best in most sports when they are relaxed and confident.

Players can’t control whether they win tournaments or not. They try and their best and hope it happens. Sometimes they’re just no good enough. Sometimes they’re not lucky.

What we should be more critical of is making sure we do everything we can control like fitness, preventing fixing, working hard on fielding. But here as fans we’re often too soft on the team compared to fans of other countries.

 

[giri26]

How on earth is Babar a batting great on par with Sachin? Did not expect this from Agnew.

 

[pakistani pride]

We’ve always been to critical of our players. It’s like revelling in their downfall. When you have so much criticism and pressure for players who are playing in a mid level team, it takes its toll. They can’t win every tournament/game and alleviate that pressure because they are not a top team. In the same way they can not focus on improvement over a long period to become a top team as people want results now. Saw it with Umar akmal, the guy showed promise and then expected to become the next Kohli, win tournaments etc. We couldn’t just let him play with little pressure. And the guy crumbled under expectations.

I know there’s this high standards mantra as fans, but in reality I don’t think this works. Just demanding high standards achieves little. Players usually play their best in most sports when they are relaxed and confident.

Players can’t control whether they win tournaments or not. They try and their best and hope it happens. Sometimes they’re just no good enough. Sometimes they’re not lucky.

What we should be more critical of is making sure we do everything we can control like fitness, preventing fixing, working hard on fielding. But here as fans we’re often too soft on the team compared to fans of other countries.

One question - when did Babar play FC cricket for the last time compared with T20 franchise cricket?

 

[Savak]

We’ve always been to critical of our players. It’s like revelling in their downfall. When you have so much criticism and pressure for players who are playing in a mid level team, it takes its toll. They can’t win every tournament/game and alleviate that pressure because they are not a top team. In the same way they can not focus on improvement over a long period to become a top team as people want results now. Saw it with Umar akmal, the guy showed promise and then expected to become the next Kohli, win tournaments etc. We couldn’t just let him play with little pressure. And the guy crumbled under expectations.

I know there’s this high standards mantra as fans, but in reality I don’t think this works. Just demanding high standards achieves little. Players usually play their best in most sports when they are relaxed and confident.

Players can’t control whether they win tournaments or not. They try and their best and hope it happens. Sometimes they’re just no good enough. Sometimes they’re not lucky.

What we should be more critical of is making sure we do everything we can control like fitness, preventing fixing, working hard on fielding. But here as fans we’re often too soft on the team compared to fans of other countries.

These players are being paid handsomely to perform. Also this whole thing about the players being under so much pressure from expectations and critics is just nonsense, the core group of 7-8 players have been playing in the team non stop for the last 5-6 years since 2019 which is an extremely long run then they have deserved. These players are just too relaxed and over confident now hence why there is zero pressure on them to upskills because of their political connections, family connections, relationships with PCB officials, family connections i.e. influential father in law.

These players can absolutely control their output if they put in the hard work on their fitness, diet/nutrition, skill work behind the scenes but it is clear they do none of that because the skills of our players has badly regressed and the feedback from most of the coaches, support staff who have worked with these players is that the players do not like to put in the hard work, they stick to their comfort zones, they don't listen to the coaches, they ignore constructive feedback, advice they receive and the PCB has further given them a sense of entitlement by punishing the team's coaches, selectors, chairmen, board officials but never held the players accountable.

I blame the PCB for not tigthening the screws on these players from day one. These players should have been booted out a good 2 years ago with their replacements groomed.

 

[Savak]

How on earth is Babar a batting great on par with Sachin? Did not expect this from Agnew.

These goras know full well praising the likes of Babar, Shaheen sells well in Pakistan hence they are playing to the galleries. No neutral sane observer can ever rate Babar who has never won a meaningful match for Pakistan completely on his own.

 

[ads101]

These players are being paid handsomely to perform. Also this whole thing about the players being under so much pressure from expectations and critics is just nonsense, the core group of 7-8 players have been playing in the team non stop for the last 5-6 years since 2019 which is an extremely long run then they have deserved. These players are just too relaxed and over confident now hence why there is zero pressure on them to upskills because of their political connections, family connections, relationships with PCB officials, family connections i.e. influential father in law.

These players can absolutely control their output if they put in the hard work on their fitness, diet/nutrition, skill work behind the scenes but it is clear they do none of that because the skills of our players has badly regressed and the feedback from most of the coaches, support staff who have worked with these players is that the players do not like to put in the hard work, they stick to their comfort zones, they don't listen to the coaches, they ignore constructive feedback, advice they receive and the PCB has further given them a sense of entitlement by punishing the team's coaches, selectors, chairmen, board officials but never held the players accountable.

I blame the PCB for not tigthening the screws on these players from day one. These players should have been booted out a good 2 years ago with their replacements groomed.

These guys don’t look overconfident when they’re on the field. Especially the batsmen who usually look scared out of their wits in tournaments. When we try out youngsters/new players you can see they’re under insane pressure. It’s their few chances to guarantee financial stability by becoming part of the international team. Which is also why players are terrified to lose their international places. They can’t fall back on domestic salaries. If they fail now, there’s a chances they’ll be labelled as a tried and tested failure in the future even if they perform in domestic again so difficult to get an international call up again. We have chopped and changed to oblivion to the extent we are running out of players to test and moving on to guys who don’t even have good domestic records. At some point you have to focus on trying to get the best out of the players you have.

We have always been lax on diets, fitness, fielding etc. Because the mentality is if you win a tournament it doesn’t matter. These are the things I agree we have been lenient on. And ultimately these are the things which can be worked on and contribute to long term success. Most of what we direct that pressure to is the short term outcome i.e. tournaments. Which by the middle of the tournament it is too late, as the players are not fit or skilled enough to do their best. At that point all the cricketers can do is do their best. And yet this is when we turn the screws as such.

These way out is simply enforcing certain standards. If you aren’t fit enough you don’t play regardless of how good you are. If you’ve fixed before you don’t ever play again. This will force cricketers to have no choice but be fit and don’t fix. But time and time again we see us relax the rules, put in the unfit guy, tolerate cricketers becoming unfit over time, bring back the fixer.

I will be more than happy to relax the criticism and pressure on the pitch if we play an entire team who has worked hard to ensure they are of their best fitness, diet the moment they step on the pitch. That with high confidence and low pressure will get the best out of their talent however limited it is or not.

 

[jnaveen1980]

You gotta give some credit to his PR team. What is that? Saya group? They simply bombarded social media with weird, irrelevant comparison stats so much so that some even started believing it. Whether you like or not it has worked. Just keep comparing him with contemporary greats through various platform until it sticks.

 

[pakistani pride]

These players are being paid handsomely to perform. Also this whole thing about the players being under so much pressure from expectations and critics is just nonsense, the core group of 7-8 players have been playing in the team non stop for the last 5-6 years since 2019 which is an extremely long run then they have deserved. These players are just too relaxed and over confident now hence why there is zero pressure on them to upskills because of their political connections, family connections, relationships with PCB officials, family connections i.e. influential father in law.

These players can absolutely control their output if they put in the hard work on their fitness, diet/nutrition, skill work behind the scenes but it is clear they do none of that because the skills of our players has badly regressed and the feedback from most of the coaches, support staff who have worked with these players is that the players do not like to put in the hard work, they stick to their comfort zones, they don't listen to the coaches, they ignore constructive feedback, advice they receive and the PCB has further given them a sense of entitlement by punishing the team's coaches, selectors, chairmen, board officials but never held the players accountable.

I blame the PCB for not tigthening the screws on these players from day one. These players should have been booted out a good 2 years ago with their replacements groomed.

Very well said.
This under pressure excuse makes 0 sense.

 

[Cryin Out Loud]

In putting him in the same frame as SRT, even if indirectly, Agnew has condemned Babar instead of helping him.

Because the sympathy expected at Babar’s plight is lost in the derision evoked at the comparison.

 

[Savak]

Morne Morkel in an interview to an Indian reporters already complained that Indian pace bowlers are more receptive to feedback, tips including Bhumrah in comparison to the Pakistani pace bowlers he worked with.

Some of the senior players also lobbied with the PCB to have Kirsten, Gillespie replaced with Aqib Javed.

The rot in Pakistan Cricket starts and ends with these players.

 

[LordJames]

Its a rotten culture, on one hand you have Toxic culture which doesn't believe in constructive feedback and criticism to help people improve and on the other hand players are insecure so they refuse to take time out and play FC Cricket to work on their flaws.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Sachin got boo'd off the pitch by his own fans once.

 

[Sachin fan]

We’ve always been to critical of our players. It’s like revelling in their downfall. When you have so much criticism and pressure for players who are playing in a mid level team, it takes its toll. They can’t win every tournament/game and alleviate that pressure because they are not a top team. In the same way they can not focus on improvement over a long period to become a top team as people want results now. Saw it with Umar akmal, the guy showed promise and then expected to become the next Kohli, win tournaments etc. We couldn’t just let him play with little pressure. And the guy crumbled under expectations.

I know there’s this high standards mantra as fans, but in reality I don’t think this works. Just demanding high standards achieves little. Players usually play their best in most sports when they are relaxed and confident.

Players can’t control whether they win tournaments or not. They try and their best and hope it happens. Sometimes they’re just no good enough. Sometimes they’re not lucky.

What we should be more critical of is making sure we do everything we can control like fitness, preventing fixing, working hard on fielding. But here as fans we’re often too soft on the team compared to fans of other countries.

Indian young players feel the same or more pressure. Pant was literally booed by his own countrymen because he was replacing dhoni. Lots of new players from Sky, to Abhishek Sharma to jaiswal all are attacked by our fans.

Kohli, dhoni all were attacked when young.

We respect seniors and attack youngsters.

That's the culture of the sub continent, you have a long cricketing history and fans have big expectations.

If you are mentally weak, you won't survive.

 

[Sachin fan]

Sachin got boo'd off the pitch by his own fans once.

Yep, there is some revisionist history in OP. Sachin was criticised directly by commentators which can never happen today. News media and tv used to have front page news carrying "endulkar" as headlines.

At least todays cricketers can just avoid social media, in sachins tone commentators and experts could directly question him to his face.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Yep, there is some revisionist history in OP. Sachin was criticised directly by commentators which can never happen today. News media and tv used to have front page news carrying "endulkar" as headlines.

At least todays cricketers can just avoid social media, in sachins tone commentators and experts could directly question him to his face.

I don't think it's revisionist history. English commentators of the past generally see players through English lens.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

In putting him in the same frame as SRT, even if indirectly, Agnew has condemned Babar instead of helping him.

Because the sympathy expected at Babar’s plight is lost in the derision evoked at the comparison.

You are not seeing it like I am seeing it. Aggers views Tendulkar as Babar level player as do many others. Some rate him either of course. But it's clear what a respect pundit like Aggers means

@Rajdeep @mominsaigol here is another evidence.

 

[pakistani pride]

Sachin got boo'd off the pitch by his own fans once.

Babar has not even faced 0,1% of the pressure Sachin faced.

 

[ayemgilani86]

ridiculous statement Babar has been backed for a decade, he plays selfish cricket never plays the situation always gets out after getting his personal scores and he is still playing game by not allowing for any backup player to be ready because he is insecure and dishonest

 

[Savak]

Tbh Sachin only really faced severe pressure from 1995 to 2000 as India's main batsman of note. From 2001 onwards the likes of Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Kaif had emerged as match winners and since then India had never been single handedly dependent on him ever again.

 

[Savak]

There is no mental weakness on Babar's part. His skills and abilities are over rated and statpadded. He is not as good as perceived. That is the bottomline.

 

[giri26]

Tbh Sachin only really faced severe pressure from 1995 to 2000 as India's main batsman of note. From 2001 onwards the likes of Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Kaif had emerged as match winners and since then India had never been single handedly dependent on him ever again.

Sachin faced pressure even as a young 18 year old while travelling overseas from early 90's. As a 18 year old in SA & Australia in 1991/92, he was the only one who could score runs. Baring Ravi Shastri's 200 in Australia and Kapil's 129 & Amre's 103 in SA, Indian batters struggled. In ODIs though it was an entire decade where Sachin carried India's batting. Rahul did not establish himself in the ODI team until 1999 but with a SR of 71 and Sourav was a good batter but only struck at 73 in ODIs. Only in 2001/02 when Yuvraj and Sehwag started to establish themselves, Sachin had some respite. Remember Yuvraj after great start in the champions Trophy was dropped within a year due to his issues with spin. He only made a comeback in 2002 into the ODI team.

The pressure Sachin had in the 90's was tremendous. Babar isn't facing that much criticism for the kind of soft innings he plays in all forms of cricket. Even now when at his peak he has been dropped from the T20 squad and people are calling for his head in Tests as well, Babar hasn't achieved anything to be compared with Sachin. Despite having a good batting line up after 2003 in Tests and ODIs, Sachin still was a high performing player in both the formats. In 2011 as a 38 year old Sachin was India's top rungetter in the WC and also was India's leading run scorer in SA in a drawn Test series with 2 hundreds. Babar has never had such stand out performances in any tournament or series that I can think of. The only time he was any good in tests was on those flat pancakes which was dished out to England & Australia during Ramiz's time as chairman.

 

[rpant_gabba]

You are not seeing it like I am seeing it. Aggers views Tendulkar as Babar level player as do many others. Some rate him either of course. But it's clear what a respect pundit like Aggers means

@Rajdeep @mominsaigol here is another evidence.

Or it is clear that what someone like Aggers whore themselves for.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Or it is clear that what someone like Aggers whore themselves for.

No need to use such language. Everyone is allowed an opinion. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can try to demean a person.

 

[rpant_gabba]

No need to use such language. Everyone is allowed an opinion. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean you can try to demean a person.

If the shoe fits....

 

[Aang_The_last_airbender]

by what count is Babar a batting great?

Minnow bashing great!

 

[Sachin fan]

Tbh Sachin only really faced severe pressure from 1995 to 2000 as India's main batsman of note. From 2001 onwards the likes of Sehwag, Ganguly, Dravid, Yuvraj, Kaif had emerged as match winners and since then India had never been single handedly dependent on him ever again.

Sachin had already established himself as a superstar way before that. From a teen he shone in overseas tours and was the lone warrior. By the time players you named Sachin was already an established star for years. By 2001, Sachin had already played 10-11 years in international cricket, so half his career was over. Most stars have a career of 10 to 12 years

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

lol What has Babar even achieved to be considered some sort of great. Just pretty 30s and 40s overseas in Test Cricket.
Tendulkar at age 23, highest score of 96 WC.. at age 30 highest scorer of 2003 WC, at age 38 highest scorer of Indian team in 2011 WC. Iconic desert storm innings, Test Centuries at age 18 in Aus, Eng etc.. Multiple half centuries vs Imran/Wasim/Waqar.

Babar is not even .0000000000001 % comparable to the talent Sachin has. What pressure on him. All he has is Fake PR.

 

[ads101]

Indian young players feel the same or more pressure. Pant was literally booed by his own countrymen because he was replacing dhoni. Lots of new players from Sky, to Abhishek Sharma to jaiswal all are attacked by our fans.

Kohli, dhoni all were attacked when young.

We respect seniors and attack youngsters.

That's the culture of the sub continent, you have a long cricketing history and fans have big expectations.

If you are mentally weak, you won't survive.

And it’s probably why India underperformed in tournaments in the last 2 decades or so despite for most of it being the best team on paper.

But there’s a difference putting pressure when you’re the favourite. When India has won a tournament in the t20 World Cup again finally the pressure comes off. Which is no surprise they won the champions trophy too naturally straight after as that pressure of finally winning a tournament again was off.

Pakistan heads into most tournaments around 6th favourite to win. And the team is expected to win the tournament or media/fans will go crazy. It’s extremely daunting going in knowing you have to far outperform your level. India on the other hand in the last few decades really just need to play their best cricket and will usually have a very good shot of winning as they are often the strongest team. Pakistan team has to basically perform a miracle at current strength.

Not to mention most Indian players of IPL to fall back on and far more financially secure. Even if it doesn’t work out internationally it’s not the end of the world.

I don’t think this tradition of piling on the pressure/expectations in subcontinent is a good one.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Yep, there is some revisionist history in OP. Sachin was criticised directly by commentators which can never happen today. News media and tv used to have front page news carrying "endulkar" as headlines.

At least todays cricketers can just avoid social media, in sachins tone commentators and experts could directly question him to his face.

I think both things are pretty bad and I don't want to compare the two. But I don't think its that easy to just avoid social media. Especially when its a source of income for alot of high-profile cricketers too.

 

[uppercut]

You are not seeing it like I am seeing it. Aggers views Tendulkar as Babar level player as do many others. Some rate him either of course. But it's clear what a respect pundit like Aggers means

@Rajdeep @mominsaigol here is another evidence.

utterly hilarious that there are people like Aggers who say that Babar is in the league of Tendulkar .... but I'am inclined to give the benefit of doubt to him as he might have been trying to be nice to his hosts following a sumptuous dinner.

Because a injury ridden and completely over the hill Tendulkar in the last few years of his career made more Test runs than Babar has in his prime so far.

Babar has so far made 4235 runs in 108 innings with 9 hundred at a avg of 42.77. Whereas Tendulkar made 4946 runs at a avg of 50.98 in his last 107 inngs which included 14 hundreds.

There is no shortage of idiots in the world who think that Babar is a Tendulkar level player and you can encounter them right here on this forum.​

 

[DeadlyVenom]

utterly hilarious that there are people like Aggers who say that Babar is in the league of Tendulkar .... but I'am inclined to give the benefit of doubt to him as he might have been trying to be nice to his hosts following a sumptuous dinner.

Because a injury ridden and completely over the hill Tendulkar in the last few years of his career made more Test runs than Babar has in his prime so far.

Babar has so far made 4235 runs in 108 innings with 9 hundred at a avg of 42.77. Whereas Tendulkar made 4946 runs at a avg of 50.98 in his last 107 inngs which included 14 hundreds.

There is no shortage of idiots in the world who think that Babar is a Tendulkar level player and you can encounter them right here on this forum.​

@Cricket Warrior can you confirm if Aggers made these comments after being bribed by a nice meal or if he was speaking freely?

 

[rpant_gabba]

utterly hilarious that there are people like Aggers who say that Babar is in the league of Tendulkar .... but I'am inclined to give the benefit of doubt to him as he might have been trying to be nice to his hosts following a sumptuous dinner.

Because a injury ridden and completely over the hill Tendulkar in the last few years of his career made more Test runs than Babar has in his prime so far.

Babar has so far made 4235 runs in 108 innings with 9 hundred at a avg of 42.77. Whereas Tendulkar made 4946 runs at a avg of 50.98 in his last 107 inngs which included 14 hundreds.

There is no shortage of idiots in the world who think that Babar is a Tendulkar level player and you can encounter them right here on this forum.​

Damn. that is going to leave a scar.

I'm not even a fan of Tendulkar and consider him a soft acha bacha

 

[Savak]

utterly hilarious that there are people like Aggers who say that Babar is in the league of Tendulkar .... but I'am inclined to give the benefit of doubt to him as he might have been trying to be nice to his hosts following a sumptuous dinner.

Because a injury ridden and completely over the hill Tendulkar in the last few years of his career made more Test runs than Babar has in his prime so far.

Babar has so far made 4235 runs in 108 innings with 9 hundred at a avg of 42.77. Whereas Tendulkar made 4946 runs at a avg of 50.98 in his last 107 inngs which included 14 hundreds.

There is no shortage of idiots in the world who think that Babar is a Tendulkar level player and you can encounter them right here on this forum.​

Babar's average was close to 47-48 by the start of 2023. The fact his average has fallen so low to 42 in the last 2 years tells you how pathetically he has played and his axing was completely warranted.

Azhar Ali faced a similar decline where his average declined from 48 to 42 by the end of his career in the last 5 years.

 

[uppercut]

Babar's average was close to 47-48 by the start of 2023. The fact his average has fallen so low to 42 in the last 2 years tells you how pathetically he has played and his axing was completely warranted.

Azhar Ali faced a similar decline where his average declined from 48 to 42 by the end of his career in the last 5 years.

Are you saying Babar was a Tendulkar level player up until start of 2023 ?

 

[giri26]

Sachin at the same age as Babar had played 105 Tests, scored 8811 runs at an average of 57 with 31 Test hundreds. Babar is not even in the same planet as Sachin and cannot be compared at any level to the legend. Even till 2023 Babar was no where close to Sachin.

 

[Hitman]

Are you saying Babar was a Tendulkar level player up until start of 2023 ?

With 1 century in SENA?

 

[Savak]

Are you saying Babar was a Tendulkar level player up until start of 2023 ?

A good Pakistani player but also very over rated. Now he is facing severe decline and will not be long before he goes the Umar Akmal route whose stock fell rapidly beyond repair

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Sachin has been declared god of cricket despite having multiple players have better metrics than him.

You can't get better PR than Sachin. Indian cricket carried him for years to allow him to have a PR boost with 100 centuries.

Yes Babar is over the top but Sachin is the king of PR boosting pre social media days. God Forbid had 1 billion Indians had access to twitter back when he was playing.

 

[mominsaigol]

Are you saying Babar was a Tendulkar level player up until start of 2023 ?

He didn't once imply that

 

[mominsaigol]

Sachin has been declared god of cricket despite having multiple players have better metrics than him.

You can't get better PR than Sachin. Indian cricket carried him for years to allow him to have a PR boost with 100 centuries.

Yes Babar is over the top but Sachin is the king of PR boosting pre social media days. God Forbid had 1 billion Indians had access to twitter back when he was playing.

The God of cricket mantra was a bit too far as he wasn't head and shoulders > everyone in his era and he isn't even the greatest of all time. Viv Richards was clearly a better odi batter and Steve smith is clearly a better test player.

The God of cricket mantra only applies to Bradman who's so far ahead of everyone else in his era that the no 2 of his era is a nobody in comparison.

However he was still better then everyone in his era as an odi and test batsmen.

How many odi and test batters are > him? So far I can only think of smith being a better test player and viv being a better odi player with kohli being debatable due to different era aka 2 new ball era. Sachin was > Ponting in his era however ponting and gilly stepped up in icc events more while Sachin did not.

Others like sanga, Lara, Ponting are > in certain metrics but not > as a whole, only Steve Smith in test and viv in odi are > as a whole.

As for Babar, the hate maybe unjustified however it is frustrating to watch a player never progress despite alot of backing. Babar hinself doesn't even wish to progress as a batsmen.

 

[zaidihusain]

If people talk about unnecessary pressure on Babar then they should also see his blind fan following which he has enjoyed since 7-8 years.

I remember Pakistan team of 90s got greater criticism than Babar, they used to get hostile reception or criticism at home after exit from any ICC tournament or defeat in big series. If world cup winning & established players like Wasim, Waqar, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam, Ijaz Ahmad were not spared then who is Babar Azam. Sachin got severe criticism but he was mentality very strong carried himself up to 2011 with his grit & determination

 

[TheSultan]

I can’t believe I’m saying this - but there is no comparison. For all of Tendulkar’s faults - and I am very happy to point out all of them as the sachinistas very well know - there is absolutely no comparison. Tendulkar was leagues above Babar in every department.

 

[Hitman]

I can’t believe I’m saying this - but there is no comparison. For all of Tendulkar’s faults - and I am very happy to point out all of them as the sachinistas very well know - there is absolutely no comparison. Tendulkar was leagues above Babar in every department.

Pretty rich coming from someone who considers Shoaib Akhtar a legend in his own parallel universe

 

[topspin]

Pretty rich coming from someone who considers Shoaib Akhtar a legend in his own parallel universe

I don’t think it’s far fetched to consider him to be a Pakistani legend. He won many games for Pakistan and his stats were superior to Brett Lee.

I’m no fan of Shoaib Akhtar. In fact I don’t think really like the guy if I’m totally honest but the disrespect that he’s been getting on here by select number of Misbah is quite frankly disgraceful.

According to them Joginder Sharma was a more impactful bowler than Shoaib Akhtar and no they were not trolling. They really believe this and I know this for a fact because one of them has an associate level of cricketing acumen and the other believes Misbah was superior to Inzamam in white ball cricket.

 

[topspin]

A good Pakistani player but also very over rated. Now he is facing severe decline and will not be long before he goes the Umar Akmal route whose stock fell rapidly beyond repair

Good bilateral player*

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I can’t believe I’m saying this - but there is no comparison. For all of Tendulkar’s faults - and I am very happy to point out all of them as the sachinistas very well know - there is absolutely no comparison. Tendulkar was leagues above Babar in every department.

So far at least Babar has been crime free when compared to Tendulkar

He has not ball tampered and then to cover his crime instigated 1 billion people to riot and end the career of an innocent umpire.
He has not stayed silent while his team mates have fixed matches.
He has not committed perjury by covering up for racism.
He has not sold his childhood friends down the river, resulting in them becoming alcoholics.

Babar has not fulfilled his potential, but he is superior morally to

 

[topspin]

So far at least Babar has been crime free when compared to Tendulkar

He has not ball tampered and then to cover his crime instigated 1 billion people to riot and end the career of an innocent umpire.
He has not stayed silent while his team mates have fixed matches.
He has not committed perjury by covering up for racism.
He has not sold his childhood friends down the river, resulting in them becoming alcoholics.

Babar has not fulfilled his potential, but he is superior morally to

Also to add to this list, when he refused to congratulate Pakistan’s win in the CT on Twitter, when he congratulated India for beating Pakistan in hockey, which was played on the same day.

Small man syndrome.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Also to add to this list, when he refused to congratulate Pakistan’s win in the CT on Twitter, when he congratulated India for beating Pakistan in hockey, which was played on the same day.

Small man syndrome.

Absolutely.

The more I think of it the moire Aggers is right. hype machine has kept him inculcated from all serious scrutinty.

I mean look at this answer.


Sachin Tendulkar has not touched upon the match-fixing scandal that rocked Indian cricket in the 1990s in his autobiography because he felt it would be "unwise" to comment on subjects that he was not fully aware of.




"I think whatever things I knew 100% I have revealed because I back up those things. But the things I am not aware of fully, it would be unwise to comment on those," Tendulkar was quoted as saying by PTI on the eve of the launch of his book, Playing It My Way. "I should have some evidence, I should know something in detail to talk about it because then it makes sense and it will be appreciated by people. But if I just start talking then it will not have any value."

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/sachin-tendulkar-skirts-fixing-in-autobiography-796701

That is the statement of a man clearly briefed/coached/shielded by lawyers and PR agencies.

 

[TheSultan]

So far at least Babar has been crime free when compared to Tendulkar

He has not ball tampered and then to cover his crime instigated 1 billion people to riot and end the career of an innocent umpire.
He has not stayed silent while his team mates have fixed matches.
He has not committed perjury by covering up for racism.
He has not sold his childhood friends down the river, resulting in them becoming alcoholics.

Babar has not fulfilled his potential, but he is superior morally to

That is very true - he was a real sneaky lowlife.

 

[TheSultan]

Pretty rich coming from someone who considers Shoaib Akhtar a legend in his own parallel universe

Oh here comes my biggest fan! In India I don’t think you get told the meaning of things very well, so let me clarify for you. Legend is not about nerdy stats. Legends are about memorable stories, tales that are timeless. In 100 years whenever fast bowling would be discussed, Shoaib will be discussed. Nothing you can say can deny that. Compilations of his wickets and Yorkers and get some of the most views on YT cricketing videos about fast bowlers. Sorry people don’t want to a medium pace McGrath nick someone off. The want fast, express searing bouncers and Yorkers. And sorry my little fan, you can’t deny that either.

So for clarity I’ll say it again. Shoaib Akhtar is a legend. A flawed legend maybe but a legend nonetheless.

 

[uppercut]

Oh here comes my biggest fan! In India I don’t think you get told the meaning of things very well, so let me clarify for you. Legend is not about nerdy stats. Legends are about memorable stories, tales that are timeless. In 100 years whenever fast bowling would be discussed, Shoaib will be discussed. Nothing you can say can deny that.

100 years ehhh ? How about less than 20 years on a certain JJ Bumrah has completely overshadowed Akhtar and actually has won Tests in AUS with his bowling which the Akhtar can only dream about.

Here's the kicker to add more misery to delusional Akhtar fans .... Akhtar himself nominates Bumrah as the best fast bowler he has seen ...

@Hitman

 

[TheSultan]

100 years ehhh ? How about less than 20 years on a certain JJ Bumrah has completely overshadowed Akhtar and actually has won Tests in AUS with his bowling which the Akhtar can only dream about.

Here's the kicker to add more misery to delusional Akhtar fans .... Akhtar himself nominates Bumrah as the best fast bowler he has seen ...

@Hitman

It doesn’t matter if Bumrah takes 1000 wickets. You didn’t read what I read, maybe you misunderstood. Let me translate for Indian audiences.

“look saaar, legendary status is not related to estatistics. I hope you understand the same, now please kindly do the needful and read this sentence again”

Bumrah, has neither the lethality or pace of Shoaib Akhtar to be as memorable.

 

[uppercut]

It doesn’t matter if Bumrah takes 1000 wickets. You didn’t read what I read, maybe you misunderstood. Let me translate for Indian audiences.

“look saaar, legendary status is not related to estatistics. I hope you understand the same, now please kindly do the needful and read this sentence again”

Bumrah, has neither the lethality or pace of Shoaib Akhtar to be as memorable.

Post this on a Bumrah thread and I wil respond as mods have deleted your post and my response on this thread.

 

[TheSultan]

Post this on a Bumrah thread and I wil respond as mods have deleted your post and my response on this thread.

You guys are the ones that derailed this convo talking about akhtar - no point crying now. And this after I actually praised your little mister Sachin.

You concentrate on keeping Bumrah fit, history will judge him after.

If you have any comments about Babar Azam vs Tendi comparison, then bring it up, otherwise don’t bother replying

 

[hassan918]

NO MORE SHOAIB BUMRAH POSTS OR THOSE WILL BE REMOVED.

 

[nish_mate]

Babar, the chap who aint even fit to tie Misbah's laces, let alone Miandad's....

Imagine Babar having to score 4 off the last ball to win the match- the boy would brown his bottoms......

 

[Hitman]

Babar, the chap who aint even fit to tie Misbah's laces, let alone Miandad's....

Imagine Babar having to score 4 off the last ball to win the match- the boy would brown his bottoms......

For that, Babar will have to average 29 against the best team of his time, Australia.

 

[Prince of Dorne]

When is Pak's next tour to Zim? Asking for a king.