First ODI against Sri Lanka: One of worst ODI hundreds ever - Babar Azam

[Bonafide Hustler]

I guess it is a matter of perception. Generally defensive batting is associated with selfishness, but at times attacking cricket can be selfish too. For e.g. Afridi was undoubtedly a very selfish batsman, but some would say that he didn't play for stats. It is a complicated debate. Personally, I would associate Umar with a lot of things but not selfishness.

Umar's whole personality oozes selfishness. Why keep whining about which number he bats on if he isn't a selfish snob? Unselfish batsman, especially unproven ones bat at whatever number and try to prove their merit there. I think it is a lot more selfish to play idiotic ill advised shots when the game is hanging in the balance, this is something Umar has done time and time again. Babar on the other hand has a specific role in the team, and he plays that role pretty well, it is what Pakistan has been missing for a long time. I don't think he would have a problem taking more chances and playing aggressive if that is what the situation demands. If Pakistan were chasing 300 odd then I really doubt Babar would have played as slow. The biggest issue with Pak batting since the mid 90s has been batting collapses in big matches due to idiotic adventurous stroke play. He has a strong temperament and it is really nice to know he won't fluster like other brainless batsman do in crucial times.

 

[ahsan88]

Terrible thread. Babar will be fine. Good innings that resulted in a W for Pak.

 

[yasir]

This was a harsh thread, Pakistani are very emotional fans, they are always after their best players, whole PP is after Amir and Babar, almost all the time...where as Indian make them God, I wish we learn some thing from Parosies

Pakistan needs to drive their par score to 300, and Babar is key to that puzzle, we don’t need 350 like England, with our bowling 300ish score against any opposition, we will win most matches in most places...

 

[another drop catch]

This was a harsh thread, Pakistani are very emotional fans, they are always after their best players, whole PP is after Amir and Babar, almost all the time...where as Indian make them God, I wish we learn some thing from Parosies ������

Pakistan needs to drive their par score to 300, and Babar is key to that puzzle, we don’t need 350 like England, with our bowling 300ish score against any opposition, we will win most matches in most places...

I agree with you this fans never gets satisfied with any player they will always complain

 

[shaz619]

Great post.

There's a way to criticise players. People calling for Babar's head should really re-assess their cricketing knowledge; probably the same 'experts' who thought Pakistan wasn't even deserving of a spot at the Champions Trophy.

We are a struggling batting nation and trust me when I say this - we don't have anyone half as good as Babar waiting in the wings.

And am not denying that he could have shown a bit more intent but people are also overlooking he came into the series low on confidence himself, anyhow we won the match so there's not a lot to complain about, sure there's always ways we could improve but asking for him to be axed is moronic.

 

[Rana]

One of the major problems was the fact that he was scoring runs for fun against the self proclaimed World XI, and he wasnt anywhere near as fluent against the Sri Lankan jobber bowlers. As I said before, his 50+ average didnt take a hit and he's closing in on 2000 ODI runs before the age of 23.

A lot of our hyped players are brilliant until they reach 1000 runs, for example...Hameed, Umar Akmal, even Azhar Ali seemed to be the next Dravid in ODI's. They somewhat fall off track during the journey from 1000-2000 runs. Babar on the other hand doesnt seem to be losing track at all, hes piling up those runs and one can only imagine how good he would be at the age of 25 with possibly 5000 ODI runs already to his name

 

[Mamoon]

Umar's whole personality oozes selfishness. Why keep whining about which number he bats on if he isn't a selfish snob? Unselfish batsman, especially unproven ones bat at whatever number and try to prove their merit there. I think it is a lot more selfish to play idiotic ill advised shots when the game is hanging in the balance, this is something Umar has done time and time again. Babar on the other hand has a specific role in the team, and he plays that role pretty well, it is what Pakistan has been missing for a long time. I don't think he would have a problem taking more chances and playing aggressive if that is what the situation demands. If Pakistan were chasing 300 odd then I really doubt Babar would have played as slow. The biggest issue with Pak batting since the mid 90s has been batting collapses in big matches due to idiotic adventurous stroke play. He has a strong temperament and it is really nice to know he won't fluster like other brainless batsman do in crucial times.

That hasn't been the case so far.

In Australia when we were chasing 350 in the 4th ODI, Babar labored to 39 at a SR rate of 75. Yes Sharjeel was going at 120+ on the other end, but Babar's SR was still too low.

In the 5th ODI when were chasing 370, Babar scored his first 50 runs at a SR of 70 which completely killed off any chance we had of getting anywhere close to Australia's total.

This is one are where Babar needs to improve his ODI game. Both of his last two hundreds have been pretty ordinary innings because he didn't pace his innings well.

As a general rule of thumb, in ODIs these days, the SR of the top batsmen never falls below 80 at any stage of their innings and if they face 100+ deliveries, their strike rate is over 100. Babar and Haris are the only two batsmen we have at the moment who can bat at the modern tempo, and I'm hopeful that Babar will rectify that soon.

He has largely done that already though, which is why his career SR has been very good. However, it is a little concerning that his dot ball ratio has been quite high in the last couple of series.

Secondly, there is a difference between throwing your wicket away due to reckless shots and batting at a good rate. The top batsmen don't need to play stupid shots to bat at a SR of 80 and above, and that is what makes them top players. We have struggled a lot over the years for a batsman of that caliber.

 

[urnotserious]

Reminded me of many of our very own Sachin Tendulkar's hundreds. Who said Babar can't be compared to Sachin? Duh.

Of Sachin's 49 ODI centuries he scored 7 centuries under the strike rate of 85 IN THOSE DAYS. ONLY 7!

The other 42 were above the strike rate of 85, majority of them over a strike rate of 100.

Even off those, India ended up winning 4 out of those games.

Your hate for Sachin is all hate and no data.

 

[yasir]

That hasn't been the case so far.

In Australia when we were chasing 350 in the 4th ODI, Babar labored to 39 at a SR rate of 75. Yes Sharjeel was going at 120+ on the other end, but Babar's SR was still too low.

In the 5th ODI when were chasing 370, Babar scored his first 50 runs at a SR of 70 which completely killed off any chance we had of getting anywhere close to Australia's total.

This is one are where Babar needs to improve his ODI game. Both of his last two hundreds have been pretty ordinary innings because he didn't pace his innings well.

As a general rule of thumb, in ODIs these days, the SR of the top batsmen never falls below 80 at any stage of their innings and if they face 100+ deliveries, their strike rate is over 100. Babar and Haris are the only two batsmen we have at the moment who can bat at the modern tempo, and I'm hopeful that Babar will rectify that soon.

He has largely done that already though, which is why his career SR has been very good. However, it is a little concerning that his dot ball ratio has been quite high in the last couple of series.

Secondly, there is a difference between throwing your wicket away due to reckless shots and batting at a good rate. The top batsmen don't need to play stupid shots to bat at a SR of 80 and above, and that is what makes them top players. We have struggled a lot over the years for a batsman of that caliber.

Lets face it, there is no permutation and combination we can chase 350ish score, at the same time most teams will be hard pressed to chase that kind of score against us, we will win 8/10 times against any team any where, if we score 300...Era of huge score is coming to an end, bat sizes are now regulated, you have to earn the runs, its like after era of chucking, finger spinners are all but dead, wrist spinners are on the rise...Sort of 90s are back, where 300 was big score and well rounded attack was important, kind of attack that can take wickets throughout the innings...

We need players like Babar and Harris, who can play pace at decent rate, mix them with likes of FAkhir/Sharjeel/Fahim type players, to reach the critical score of 300. We cannot shoot for 350 par score team, even India/England would struggle to chase when it matter the most...

Babar needs to improve his strike rotation, and improve his defense to be the back bone of Pakistani batting lineup, he has shots but need to work on those two aspects of the game...Pairing of Babar and Harris can be key for our success in next 5 years...

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Another Hashim Amla in the making I fear. Thousands of soft runs but little impact and mediocre performances in tournaments.

Do you enjoy making hot takes and saying hyperbolic statements haha. You're better than that to get so high and low on every success or failure.

 

[wrongun]

Does OP realise you need to bat through all 50 overs, with serious batsman still there until the last 2-3 overs at least in order to post a big total in an ODI?

One of your top 3 SHOULD be aiming to score a century that bats through until the 40th over. Of course ideally he can accelerate to strike rate nearer 90/100 toward the end or bat all the way through but you don't always get perfect.

No problem at all with the innings, good knock. If one of your top 3 scores a century at a strike rate of 80 every game you'll be posting 300-350 every time if anyone else chips in. That will win you 80-90% of ODI games.

If you want the alternative, bring back Boom Boom for a six, a four off a top edge, a block and a bowled out. Or Umar Akmal for the flashy 20-30 runs.

 

[Abdullah]

Does OP realise you need to bat through all 50 overs, with serious batsman still there until the last 2-3 overs at least in order to post a big total in an ODI?

One of your top 3 SHOULD be aiming to score a century that bats through until the 40th over. Of course ideally he can accelerate to strike rate nearer 90/100 toward the end or bat all the way through but you don't always get perfect.

No problem at all with the innings, good knock. If one of your top 3 scores a century at a strike rate of 80 every game you'll be posting 300-350 every time if anyone else chips in. That will win you 80-90% of ODI games.

If you want the alternative, bring back Boom Boom for a six, a four off a top edge, a block and a bowled out. Or Umar Akmal for the flashy 20-30 runs.

This basically. Yes normally you want the hundred to come off 120 balls maximum, but lets give the kid some space after the stinking test series. The kid who js averaging 55 at 88 sr in his career to date

 

[Zaz]

To get to a 300 plus more often than not total one of your top 3 needs to make a ton just like fakhar did in the final Thats why most of the successful odi teams have had their best players playing there Gilchrist, Hayden, Ponting, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Ganguly, Sharma, Dhawan, Kohli

50s dont win you games and thats one criticism that could be levelled at inzy that he shouldve played in the top 3, the fact he only has 10 odi hundreds is because he didnt

Now at the moment babar is our best and most likely player Fakhar is still newish and we dont really have a 2nd opener

Pakistan has had a major problem chasing and posting big totals precisely because of our lack of 100 making ability at the top

Now We have one young player who can do that who although isnt a perfect is very very good and someone who can improve with time on his side

Lets not criticise him too much, im sure as he plays more and gets older and more experienced he will improve even further He is only 23 afterall

 

[aloo paratha]

Selfish innings, just like the one in Australia. Beyond me how you people are justifying him scoring his 50 off 80 balls and not even getting to an 80 SR by the end of the innings. Any other player and the knives would be out.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Does OP realise you need to bat through all 50 overs, with serious batsman still there until the last 2-3 overs at least in order to post a big total in an ODI?

One of your top 3 SHOULD be aiming to score a century that bats through until the 40th over. Of course ideally he can accelerate to strike rate nearer 90/100 toward the end or bat all the way through but you don't always get perfect.

No problem at all with the innings, good knock. If one of your top 3 scores a century at a strike rate of 80 every game you'll be posting 300-350 every time if anyone else chips in. That will win you 80-90% of ODI games.

If you want the alternative, bring back Boom Boom for a six, a four off a top edge, a block and a bowled out. Or Umar Akmal for the flashy 20-30 runs.

Yes i do realize one batsmen usually needs to bat through an entire ODI inns and usually if they do the score a lot more then 100 off 120 balls, anyone would think he was batting against murali and vass in their prime and that was reason for his slow scoring.

Not at any point have i indicated Babar should play reckless shots and throw it away but fact he struggle to work the spinner around early on, rotate strike of score at a decent rate means he should get criticism.

Maybe babar was trying to model himself on sunny gavaskar and his famous inns in 1st world cup for the day and playing for himself and not the team.

When all other batsmen were knocking ball around for fun on a easy paced wicket against a mediocre attack, its pretty shameful for another batsmen to be score at SR of 60 or so for 1st half of the inns.

He needs to learn sometimes to construct an inns better and maybe that will come with time.

Malik deservedly got Man of match as he showed what the pitch and opposition attack was really like.

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

Babar Azam playing a knock that will hopefully give Pakistan a total they can defend. There is no shame is playing a knock with a lower S/R when you know that others around you cannot be trusted to hang around when the going gets tough.

 

[Bilal7]

Yet another selfish innings from Babar Azam. He should be ashamed of letting his team down and should have scored a selfless 10 (25) for the team instead of labouring his way to a 50.

Babar Azam is a superb ODI batsman. On track to equal Virat Kohli, in my opinion.

 

[srh]

Babar do has some selfish tendencies but you cannot compare this 100 with Rameez Raja's 100 in 1992 WC. That one was pure selfish considering what Pakistan had in batting lineup (Miandad, Inzi etc.). Here Babar has very inferior ODI batsmen like Sarfraz, Imad etc. so Babar dont have the luxury of other good batsmen in batting lineup

the above especially the bolded part is what I said and its so true; another correct observation from me

 

[fawad_wellwisher]

If Babar would have got out earlier, we would still have posted a competitive total. Sarfraz is an unbelievably bad hitter, but he is a good accumulator. Imad can stay at the wicket too.

Sarfaraz since being appointed captain has been struggling as a batsman and Imad cannot be relied upon to stay at the wicket when there are a lot of overs remaining.

This does not look like a 300 runs wicket and Pakistani batsmen were exposed today with the kind of technique they have. Only Babar in the team is world classs.

 

[MenInG]

Babar once again carrying the load of this team on his back.

 

[Mamoon]

No one can criticize his SR today. It has been a top innings and his best innings so far in my opinion. It’s a slower pitch compared to Abu Dhabi and he has prevented the team from collapsing to 150 all out.

However batting at a SR of 65-70 for the first half of his innings has become a bit of a norm for him even on flat wickets, which he needs to address.

 

[Hermoine Green]

Today on one hand, he saved Pakistan batting, but on the other hand people will still label his effort as selfish

 

[TheNightWatchman]

Who was calling him out a few days ago for soft runs? This is a top innings when all those hacks around him failed.

 

[kingusama92]

His best knock in the UAE.

Quality.

 

[Prince of Pakistan]

A potential match winning knock. Top stuff Babar!

 

[Madplayer]

His best knock in intl. cricket so far

 

[waleed88]

Much better effort from Babar this time, carried the team on his shoulders.

Strike rate shouldn't be an issue in this case since he was carrying the team on his shoulders.

 

[Sirris]

A Pakistani batsman who holds his ground while the batting is collapsing is a rare sight. How often have we seen such scenarios where we failed to play out 50 overs once the collapse started.

Babar isn't a finished product but at least someone who you can trust to take some responsibility.

 

[BunnyRabbit]

Brilliant inning. Let's see whether we can pull a win off it or not. Upto the bowlers now.

 

[babajee]

Soft runs

 

[NeVerMind]

I'll take another 3 so called selfish centuries from Babar in this series, thank you very much

 

[Cric1234]

Shadabs innings was better Babar couldn't accelerate once set the 100 is irrelevant in the match situation the team winning is.

 

[kingusama92]

Shadabs innings was better Babar couldn't accelerate once set the 100 is irrelevant in the match situation the team winning is.

You take out his 100 and PAK is 120 ALL OUT.

BUT yes the 100 is irrelevant.

 

[Cric1234]

You take out his 100 and PAK is 120 ALL OUT.

BUT yes the 100 is irrelevant.

The innings was good until he got to 75-80 then he wasn't playing the match situation making sure he got his hundred then out straight away.
He won't be winning matches against the best teams the way he plays but scoring hundreds is never a bad thing.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

The innings was good until he got to 75-80 then he wasn't playing the match situation making sure he got his hundred then out straight away.
He won't be winning matches against the best teams the way he plays but scoring hundreds is never a bad thing.

He's 23. He's only going to improve.

And as we saw, the bottom of the order would collapse without him. So those 20-25 runs were quite valuable.

I don't disagree that he should have tried to go a few overs earlier, but he saved the match today and it's now, a match winning ton (knock on wood)

 

[Chief Destroyer]

This one was even worse. Just terrible.

 

[MenInG]

This one was even worse. Just terrible.

yes - I feel your pain too.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

A Pakistani batsman who holds his ground while the batting is collapsing is a rare sight. How often have we seen such scenarios where we failed to play out 50 overs once the collapse started.

Babar isn't a finished product but at least someone who you can trust to take some responsibility.

This.

He's only going to get better and then feel more confident in opening up and playing more shots.

We've gone nearly ten years with a consistent scorer who can score against all sides, all over the world, and all of a sudden we've become choosy?

He's 23 years old. At 27, imagine what he could be.

 

[Enigma_]

What on earth happened to him in Tests? Completely disappeared.

 

[Cric1234]

He's 23. He's only going to improve.

And as we saw, the bottom of the order would collapse without him. So those 20-25 runs were quite valuable.

I don't disagree that he should have tried to go a few overs earlier, but he saved the match today and it's now, a match winning ton (knock on wood)

Against Sri Lanka it will be ok their batsman are struggling on a losing run top 5 teams the extra runs will count.