I haven't seen Sami ever, but did have glimpses of a younger Babar last time. If IND-PAK both don't finish as group Champion or R'up, they 'll meet in QF, a match which 'll be live telecast-ed. I 'll definitely watch that match to see the batsmen from either side for a fair assesment.
What I have seen so far, Babar has a very good technic, based on forward balance (i. e. he is comfortable to take perfect length balls on front foot, rather than back foot) with good shots throughout V. Nothing wrong with that, Rahul used the same while SWaugh was extremely opposite. However, I noticed that historically batsmen batting at 1-3 prefer front-foot while 4-7 are more comfortable on BF. Top order batsmen who could master both finished as the likes of Viv, Sunil, Greg, Lara, SRT, Inzi or Panta.
Biggest problem that I see in Babar is his weakness against spin. Being a subcontinent batsman, I just don't think he is that comfortable against spin, but I might be wrong. I think it was Javed (or Sunil) once said that like the ducklings need not to be taught swimming, Subcontinent batsmen are by born better spin players for their foot-work, flexible wrist & flight reading ability - but, I have seen Babar very little for a final judgment. His another weakness is concentration - a player of his caliber has too many 30s & 40s. He has a tendency of losing it after after surviving the hard period. Need to work on that.
I haven't seen a single ball of Sami, so absolutely no idea about his technic. But from the score cards, one thing is evident - he has the perfect gear box of a top order batsman. Once set, he stays long & his strike rate improves gradually. He starts with a positive frame of mind & don't waste too many balls - if survives the first 10 overs, just shifts the gear for next 25 overs to keep in touch & then press the gas again. This is the best formula of top order batting in ODI & the best exponent of this tactics was a certain SRT, taken from him now is Kohli. No wonder SRT had that many ODI 100s & the first man to cross him 'll be Virat. (No comparison with Sami though, yet).
I was reading the CricInfo scorecard for both of Sami's 100 in KL, he looks to be very good cutter & puller - must be good on back foot. He had some flashy extra cover drives, mostly away from his body - how good he 'll finish in the long run, depends on his composure on this part of his game. There 'll ever only be 1 BC Lara, but a lot of batsmen had survived or 'll survive by controlling aggression, & it's up to Sami. Even in his U19 domestic career, he has so many big hundreds that I am sure session long concentration & domination is a big asset of Sami, but not sure how good is his technic - what his limit against persistent quality attack. Wish he can get a big score in one of the televised matches.
However, in this PAK lineup, the batsman whom I rate most is that boy Waheed - he is a finisher. A brilliant player at his level coming at 4/5 with very good head on shoulders. Only concern is, I am not sure how good he is in off-side shots (Most of his runs were scored in on-side, no issues, if he is an exponent of good wrist).
If these 3 boys does well in this WC & are really good, I am sure they 'll not be missed by Dav. Dav is a master of developing promising young boys into world class batsmen. He developed a young Mahela, Sanga & Dilshan in his tenure with Lanka & almost at tender age, virtually from school cricket, brought Ashraful, Sakib, Tamim & Rahim. Later with his tenure in NCA Bangalore, he had significant work on Virat, Rahne, Rohit, Raina, Munkund or Pujara. All 3 'll make into PAK National team, may be even as early as '15 WC, if they can pass the Dav filter of attitude.
However, someone has to tell these boys, religiously daily, if possible twice or thrice a day - "Afridi is a slogger, with a garbage technic & shameful attitude, an insult to God gifted talent. Afridi is a coward, instead of fighting it out, he tries the easy way by showing false aggression. Those who idolizes Afridi 'll end up like Umar Akmal, instead of Virat Kohli".
Like the PPers add more on those boys & the 2 Indian boys as well. That Indian Captain is a gem, & I told exactly the same words to one of my friends, 4 years back.
) that was way too funny
