Is Babar Azam cut out for Test cricket?

[Cpt. Rishwat]

In all this noise, everyone's forgetting or maybe didn't notice what a beautiful innings this was, and I mean aesthetically, some of his shots were just calssy.

I don't think his class has ever been questioned, I said from day one he is the most technically complete batsman Pakistan has produced since Mo Yousuf. But look at his test average and that tells you that he is still lacking somewhere. Stats don't lie, and he needs to be converting these 50's into big centuries to change that. I would suggest stop adjusting his game when he approaches personal milestones and carry on playing each ball to it's merits. He does the same in ODIs and it never works out well.

 

[SarfiBabarHaris]

Some of the shots he played were of the highest quality.

Thankfully chief selector, coach and captain rate him highly and giving him a long run based on his potential wrna abhi Lahore Blues ki team mai kahin hota.

But for his own good he should play some domestic cricket in places like Karachi in off season too which will improve his game against spin.

 

[Mamoon]

It was a soft innings. The one at Lord’s was much better. He needs to play a bigger role in shaping the results of the game.

Theoretically, Tests should be his best format. Scoring runs is not an issue for him and neither is his somewhat selfish approach a problem in this format.

He struggles with run rate pressure against good attacks in ODIs, but he can easily average over 45 at a healthy strike rate in Tests. To average above 50, he will need to develop more fortitude.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Some of the shots he played were of the highest quality.

Thankfully chief selector, coach and captain rate him highly and giving him a long run based on his potential wrna abhi Lahore Blues ki team mai kahin hota.

But for his own good he should play some domestic cricket in places like Karachi in off season too which will improve his game against spin.

Yeah the shot he played in the 1st inns when team was under pressure was a joy to behold.

 

[Amjid Javed]

I don't think his class has ever been questioned, I said from day one he is the most technically complete batsman Pakistan has produced since Mo Yousuf. But look at his test average and that tells you that he is still lacking somewhere. Stats don't lie, and he needs to be converting these 50's into big centuries to change that. I would suggest stop adjusting his game when he approaches personal milestones and carry on playing each ball to it's merits. He does the same in ODIs and it never works out well.

Tehnically complete? The guys an awful player of spin, lets be honest hes looked woeful most of his career so far against decent spin bowling.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Tehnically complete? The guys an awful player of spin, lets be honest hes looked woeful most of his career so far against decent spin bowling.

Really? I haven't picked up on that before, but then I rarely watch games properly these days, usually just the odd innings here and there or highlights so might be I haven't noticed.

 

[Amjid Javed]

Really? I haven't picked up on that before, but then I rarely watch games properly these days, usually just the odd innings here and there or highlights so might be I haven't noticed.

He made some adjustments in 2nd inns here against new zealand to start using the sweep shot, but normally fills no confidence when playing spinners.

 

[Third Man]

I don't think his class has ever been questioned, I said from day one he is the most technically complete batsman Pakistan has produced since Mo Yousuf. But look at his test average and that tells you that he is still lacking somewhere. Stats don't lie, and he needs to be converting these 50's into big centuries to change that. I would suggest stop adjusting his game when he approaches personal milestones and carry on playing each ball to it's merits. He does the same in ODIs and it never works out well.

Agree that that's a problem. He does tend to get inhibited when nearing a milestone. That's a psychological thing he needs to address but i wonder if he'll ever completely overcome it.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

I don't think his class has ever been questioned, I said from day one he is the most technically complete batsman Pakistan has produced since Mo Yousuf. But look at his test average and that tells you that he is still lacking somewhere. Stats don't lie, and he needs to be converting these 50's into big centuries to change that. I would suggest stop adjusting his game when he approaches personal milestones and carry on playing each ball to it's merits. He does the same in ODIs and it never works out well.

His stats can get better. He's still very young and has obvious potential (as shown in ODIs).

 

[waleed88]

I don't care about the other gibberish you wrote, just correcting the misinformation you're spreading.

Well Sami's knock was better otherwise your whole team wouldn't have collapsed, and the guy received the tougher end of the stick than the golden boy who played 15 innings after that without crossing the 20 or 30 run mark...

Sami was dropped after two non performances vs Aus while golden boy carried on being a flop

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

His innings in New Zealand and England are two of his best innings and prove he has what it takes to make it in test cricket. This 99 will buy him some time to finally nail down the No.6 spot.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Well Sami's knock was better otherwise your whole team wouldn't have collapsed, and the guy received the tougher end of the stick than the golden boy who played 15 innings after that without crossing the 20 or 30 run mark...

Sami was dropped after two non performances vs Aus while golden boy carried on being a flop

Sami was recalled for the Sri Lanka series and dropped after he failed to do much in that series. Babar doing well is more important for Pakistan. He is already a mainstay in ODIs and Pakistan desperately need an all-format batsman.

 

[waleed88]

Sami was recalled for the Sri Lanka series and dropped after he failed to do much in that series. Babar doing well is more important for Pakistan. He is already a mainstay in ODIs and Pakistan desperately need an all-format batsman.

What exactly does his knock after 15 innings prove? That you can be a free loader in the side and perform once in the year?

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Well Sami's knock was better otherwise your whole team wouldn't have collapsed, and the guy received the tougher end of the stick than the golden boy who played 15 innings after that without crossing the 20 or 30 run mark...

Sami was dropped after two non performances vs Aus while golden boy carried on being a flop

Babar carried the team after it had already collapsed and while it was collapsing in much tougher conditions, not the eased out 4th day conditions. Not to mention Babar didn't have Azhar on other side for a partnership. Sami's knock was nothing special, when Pakistan started batting, there were more than enough overs to chase the target but his snail paced partnership with Azhar left the team in no man's land which triggered a collapse. In the end, he could neither bat out the overs nor chase it down whereas Babar carried his bat.

 

[waleed88]

Babar carried the team after it had already collapsed and while it was collapsing in much tougher conditions, not the eased out 4th day conditions. Not to mention Babar didn't have Azhar on other side for a partnership. Sami's knock was nothing special, when Pakistan started batting, there were more than enough overs to chase the target but his snail paced partnership with Azhar left the team in no man's land which triggered a collapse. In the end, he could neither bat out the overs nor chase it down whereas Babar carried his bat.

Not exactly, the collapse was triggered after Sarfraz ran himself out, and considering Babar's atrocious 4th innings stats which became a regularity after those games, its not surprise to see him perform in any of the 4th innings of the matches, except maybe 1 or 2. Thats shambolic for a regular in the side for 2 years.

And equally shambolic that we are reminiscing a knock that took place almost exactly 2 years ago..

Not to mention Sami was one of the most prolific batsmen in our side when we played England in 2016 as an opener. Showed much grit and scored 2 50's in England (average of 50).. Neither did he have to go retired hurt to maintain his average in England.

That too after being hidden by 5 batsman since he's too afraid to play no.3 anymore.

Reminds me of a certain Akmal we all thought looked a million dollars in NZ

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Not exactly, the collapse was triggered after Sarfraz ran himself out, and considering Babar's atrocious 4th innings stats which became a regularity after those games, its not surprise to see him perform in any of the 4th innings of the matches, except maybe 1 or 2. Thats shambolic for a regular in the side for 2 years.

And equally shambolic that we are reminiscing a knock that took place almost exactly 2 years ago..

Not to mention Sami was one of the most prolific batsmen in our side when we played England in 2016 as an opener. Showed much grit and scored 2 50's in England (average of 50).. Neither did he have to go retired hurt to maintain his average in England.

That too after being hidden by 5 batsman since he's too afraid to play no.3 anymore.

Reminds me of a certain Akmal we all thought looked a million dollars in NZ

This is all you have left. My job is done.

 

[waleed88]

This is all you have left. My job is done.

Phew, what a dramatic meltdown from Pakistan. They lost nine wickets in a you-blink-you-miss collapse in the last session. From 159 for 1, they crashed to 230 all-out. The last six wickets fell for 26 runs, against the second new ball, in 11 overs, Wagner wrapping it up in the last hour.

As per cricinfo commentary... Sarfraz was the 4th man to be dismissed

 

[Darkrai]

I think he should quit cricket all together. He has been averaging 54 this year but people still say he should be kicked out. He has scored tons of runs in LOI but apparently they don't count. So i guess, it's a hopeless situation for him, he should look at a different career now.

 

[Abdullah]

)

Forgetting the Younis Khan scored a double century vs England at the Oval... Azhar Ali scored a double century vs Australia, Asad Shafiq's last ditch effort to save a test match against Aus in Brisbane 140 odd.. and many more I can't remember right now.... Azhar's ali century against the Windies in the final test match )

In the same match Sami Aslam scored a better 90 in the 4th innings of the same test match, where everyone collapsed and we lost just 10 overs before the close of play... so it wasn't the best knock by the Pakistani even in the test match

Conditions were relatively straight forward in most of those games compared to May in England and that Hamilton game. Aus pitches are relatively flat. WI pitches are quite nice to bat on as is the oval in August
So if I take condition and bowling quality into account

 

[waleed88]

Conditions were relatively straight forward in most of those games compared to May in England and that Hamilton game. Aus pitches are relatively flat. WI pitches are quite nice to bat on as is the oval in August
So if I take condition and bowling quality into account

Which is why Babar failed in both WI and Aus

 

[MMHS]

I am not sure why the criticism (or question mark)? First,, there is not much options available, and then guy is good actually. Babar's overall stats are still poor, but his last 5-6 innings doesn't deserve this thread to be bumped. He had a horrible series against SRL last year, but since then, he has failed only twice and was unfortunate to be Run-out twice & injured once. Here are his last 5 Tests

IRL: 14 & 59 (RO)
ENG: 68* (Retired hurt)
AUS: 4 (RO) & 28*
AUS: 0 & 99

That's 272 @ 54.80 in 4 Tests. Or more importantly, 90+ average against dismissal to bowlers. Don't think, PAK has 6 batsmen who can match this, let alone better.

In same period, Azhar's innings are 2 & 4, 50 & 4, 2 & 11, 18 & 4, 15 & 64 (RO) - that's 174 @ 17.4; or 18.5 against bowling dismissals. Babar didn't play at Leeds, which PAK badly lost - if I take that Tet out, still 161 @ 20.13 average is horrible.

In Same period, Sarfraz's innings are 20 & 8, 9, 14 & 8, 15, 94 & 81 - that's 249 @ 31.12
Asad: 62 & 1, 59, 27 & 5, 80 & 41, 0 & 44 == 309 @ 34.33
Haris is only other player who has played every Test : 31 & 7, 39 & 39*, 28 & 8, 110 & 39, 0 & 17 == 318 @ 35.44

Why complain?

 

[Sunny_majoka]

I am not sure why the criticism (or question mark)? First,, there is not much options available, and then guy is good actually. Babar's overall stats are still poor, but his last 5-6 innings doesn't deserve this thread to be bumped. He had a horrible series against SRL last year, but since then, he has failed only twice and was unfortunate to be Run-out twice & injured once. Here are his last 5 Tests

IRL: 14 & 59 (RO)
ENG: 68* (Retired hurt)
AUS: 4 (RO) & 28*
AUS: 0 & 99

That's 272 @ 54.80 in 4 Tests. Or more importantly, 90+ average against dismissal to bowlers. Don't think, PAK has 6 batsmen who can match this, let alone better.

In same period, Azhar's innings are 2 & 4, 50 & 4, 2 & 11, 18 & 4, 15 & 64 (RO) - that's 174 @ 17.4; or 18.5 against bowling dismissals. Babar didn't play at Leeds, which PAK badly lost - if I take that Tet out, still 161 @ 20.13 average is horrible.

In Same period, Sarfraz's innings are 20 & 8, 9, 14 & 8, 15, 94 & 81 - that's 249 @ 31.12
Asad: 62 & 1, 59, 27 & 5, 80 & 41, 0 & 44 == 309 @ 34.33
Haris is only other player who has played every Test : 31 & 7, 39 & 39*, 28 & 8, 110 & 39, 0 & 17 == 318 @ 35.44

Why complain?

This shows that he is gaining confidence and getting better. I always think he is just one good knock away to get going in test and i am sure the upcoming NZ series will be slap on all the naysayers

 

[Abdullah]

Which is why Babar failed in both WI and Aus

Now u justst shifting the goal posts. I was talking about innings in difficult conditions/bowling class.
My point still stands, those 2 innings were very good.
He didn't do it on the flatter pitches and that was poor. I would rate the two innings i mentioned better than if he had scored 150+ last week

 

[Abdullah719]

Well? [MENTION=135196]waleed88[/MENTION]

 

[babajee]

Well? [MENTION=135196]waleed88[/MENTION]

[MENTION=139288]Abdul[/MENTION]

 

[mak36]

Can't wait for all the haters to be proven wrong. Such a talent and people are writing him off after 10 matches.

He will be a huge success in tests- people need to calm down.

He is in the team just based on all of the hype around him.

Mediocre as hell.

At the moment, all of his lovers are being proven wrong.

The haters don't need to wait though

I called it a while ago that he doesn't have the temperament for test cricket but his fans came and gave us stats for other players after 10 matches.

Any update guys?

 

[Usman Chadda]

I don't care what anyone says. Azhar and Shafiq can't touch this guy, even if they play 150 tests.

I'm still shocked with how he massacred Dale Steyn.

 

[Joseph Gomes]

Babar was always talented enough to be successful in any format. He doesn't have X-factor but he got his basics right for sure.

 

[waleed88]

Well? [MENTION=135196]waleed88[/MENTION]

Best of Babar Azam we have seen. This has to be the knock that cements his place in the side.
Happy to be proved wrong.

Series is not over yet. 4 innings to go

 

[topspin]

[MENTION=139288]Abdul[/MENTION]

and he's still hiding...

 

[Abid Z]

Looked a million dollars. Wonderful batsman, full of class.

 

[Sunny_majoka]

and he's still hiding...

so you want him to protect some seniors who have played 70+ tests.

 

[topspin]

so you want him to protect some seniors who have played 70+ tests.

?

 

[LegendAli]

Good enough by Pakistan standards but still an above average batsman and nothing more.

Someone of top caliber would of matched that first inning (played by Babar in this test) in the second inning as well, disappointing from Babar.

 

[Abdullah719]

Good year for Babar in Tests.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Good enough by Pakistan standards but still an above average batsman and nothing more.

Someone of top caliber would of matched that first inning (played by Babar in this test) in the second inning as well, disappointing from Babar.

He got an absolute peach from Rabada

 

[Zakaz]

His last two innings have been disappointing to say the least with the scores of 2(5) and and 6(24) but still its fair to say that hes the most promising Pakistan batsman for the future. Hopefully, he can turn around this temporary out of form in second innings.

 

[hadi123]

Come on guys. It's just 2 failures. He got a snorter in the 2nd innings of the last match.

 

[MenInG]

He will have another chance - just needs some more confidence and he can do well.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

He got a nut that would have got most batsmen out here. This SA pace attack, except Philander, have been bowling bombs on a flat deck.