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[PICTURES/VIDEOS] The curious case of Babar Azam in Tests

We’ve been criticising himself since the pre World Cup tours for batting too slow and have a bad striking rate

Unfortunately Babars gone the same way as umar amin and Ahmed shahzad and now tries to hit and can’t remember how to block or leave to the keeper
 
Just took a quick glance at Twitter and Babar is getting crucified on there.

I believe he'll come back strongly and score a 100 in the second innings. Would really be needed too
 
Abdullah719 said:
Younis was averaging around 38 after 33-34 Tests. It was his 267 at Bangalore which elevated his Test career onto another level.

Yousuf was averaging 34 after 24 Tests.
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Younis had hit 5 centuries by then including his remarkable 91 and 149* in New Zealand.
 
In the 10 matches prior to this one innings Babar was averaging 50.

No need to go crazy after one innings.

Still Babar needs to shape up, he can't go about flashing away from his body under such conditions and circumstances.
 
Babar has been unlucky in Test Cricket so far, but I have a feeling he is going to come back strong in the 2nd innings. He must if Pakistan wants to stand a chance of Drawing\Winning this game.
 
Poor shot but keep the faith.

He'll show his class soon.
 
Good chance for Babar Azam to score some soft runs

He didnt deliver when it mattered in the first innings and has been the case for most of his test career he will look to score some soft meaningless runs.

Good oppurtunity to "convince" the pundits that he really is a world class batsman.

False hope. Long way for him to go in test cricket yet.
 
We already have the Asad’s, Azhar, and what not for soft runs. Don’t need another
 
No doubt he has a long way to go but scoring runs even in second innings is better than not scoring at all. Imagine what kind of threads would there have been if he would have failed in 2nd innings as well.

Our fans are too early to judge players, somebody is called start overnight while others who dont deliver according to their star status like Hassan are made into the biggest villains around.
 
This innings is incinsequential but its far from soft runs , look at the quality of bowling and the movement they are getting. Babar azam is still finding his feet in test cricket and hopefully he will start performing better soon.
 
People need to realise..he played a disgraceful shot in the first innings and has learnt from it unlike haris and uncle ifti who are not even cricketers
 
Loon this match is pretty much done , but if somehow babar can get atleast a 100, it will send a statement that he has arrived and belongs in test cricket.

Common babar !
 
Omer2002 said:
People need to realise..he played a disgraceful shot in the first innings and has learnt from it unlike haris and uncle ifti who are not even cricketers
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As wasim said, Babar felt really bad for the mistake he made and he reflected on it. It's showing in this innings.
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jason Gillespie "There is a Test cricketer in Babar Azam, he's absolute quality. The more games he plays and situations he's in, the more he'll learn. He's a fine player and he'll show it in time" <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AUSvPAK?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AUSvPAK</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1198431413592363010?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
JibranAnsari said:
This innings is incinsequential but its far from soft runs , look at the quality of bowling and the movement they are getting. Babar azam is still finding his feet in test cricket and hopefully he will start performing better soon.
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Not sure what test match you're watching, but the pitch is pretty flat - LOL at the "movement they're getting"! You just don't have the quality of batting to make a match out of it.
Babar is high quality and Naseem a wonderful prospect, other than them everyone else is bang average or below.
 
SOFT RUNS? Have you seen this bowling attack, the pressure situation and the pitch in day 4.
 
Sher Khan said:
He didnt deliver when it mattered in the first innings and has been the case for most of his test career he will look to score some soft meaningless runs.

Good oppurtunity to "convince" the pundits that he really is a world class batsman.

False hope. Long way for him to go in test cricket yet.
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These are not meaningless runs, played a fine innings, credit where it is due.
 
Good job on the hundred! Jeez people, no runs are inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
 
Well done Babar.
This is no mean feat.These bowlers are the best in the business and the match situation is such that it required alot of patience and motivation.

Ideally i would have liked a daddy hundred but still its huge and we cant undermine it.Hopefully it gives confidence in the next match.
 
104 in the 2nd innings.

<iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/i65q8/uqbltd" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Smith on Babar.

<iframe src="https://streamable.com/s/bnw4j/vtxvwl" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
No doubt that these runs were kind of soft, but I don't think Babar has anything to prove when it comes up performing under pressure. He's already performed under pressure plenty of times, what I really wanted to see was whether or not he could play a solid test knock, leave outside off, and be solid in defence, and he did all of that.
 
Ahhhhh all the keyboard warriors out in full flow. They just don't seem to understand player progression.

Selfish and low SR they said - became No.1 T20 batsman in the world.
Couldn't handle pressure -- 101* in a virtual QF against the best fielding and bowling unit of the WC
Not a test match batsman - just hit a 104 at the Gabbatoir coming in at 25-3 against Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood.

Keep throwing obstacles at this guy and he will overcome them IA - firstly because he has the determination and more importantly, because of his immense talent and skill. As Kerry O'Keefe said, the best back-foot and front-foot cover-driver seen in Australia in years.. simply a joy to watch.
 
Reminiscent of the Kohli's century against Australia in a similarly hopeless cause. Let's see if his test career kicks off after this. It's been below average for a player of his caliber.
 
MeanAndGreen said:
Ahhhhh all the keyboard warriors out in full flow. They just don't seem to understand player progression.

Selfish and low SR they said - became No.1 T20 batsman in the world.
Couldn't handle pressure -- 101* in a virtual QF against the best fielding and bowling unit of the WC
Not a test match batsman - just hit a 104 at the Gabbatoir coming in at 25-3 against Starc, Cummins and Hazlewood.

Keep throwing obstacles at this guy and he will overcome them IA - firstly because he has the determination and more importantly, because of his immense talent and skill. As Kerry O'Keefe said, the best back-foot and front-foot cover-driver seen in Australia in years.. simply a joy to watch.
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he is a class player and one of the best stroke players in the modern game. Very aesthetic to watch. He is a top player and is destined for greatness. Ignore the trolls.
 
Sher Khan said:
He didnt deliver when it mattered in the first innings and has been the case for most of his test career he will look to score some soft meaningless runs.

Good oppurtunity to "convince" the pundits that he really is a world class batsman.

False hope. Long way for him to go in test cricket yet.
Click to expand...

Okay then they should drop him in next match.
 
hussain.r97 said:
No doubt that these runs were kind of soft, but I don't think Babar has anything to prove when it comes up performing under pressure. He's already performed under pressure plenty of times, what I really wanted to see was whether or not he could play a solid test knock, leave outside off, and be solid in defence, and he did all of that.
Click to expand...

There's nothing soft about runs when you have to carry the team every game. Put him on a stacked team and watch him score centuries left, right and centre.
 
Mickey Arthur on Babar:

"Babar Azam dominated, he's almost dominated the best bowling attack in world cricket in their home conditions, He never looked like he was struggling, he put the bowlers under pressure and punished the loose balls. It was the complete Test match innings. I'm hoping it kick-starts him. He got a 100 at Adelaide in an ODI in 2017 so he loves batting there. Hopefully Pakistan win the toss there and then Babar Azam and whoever else in the batting can dominate and give Pakistan that 1st innings score to put Australia under pressure"

"Babar is a proud man, he would've been disappointed by how he got out in the 1st innings. I love the celebration, it reminded me of the NZ 100 in the WC where he won us the game, it was a celebration of a lot of emotion, it was fantastic to see"
 
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As I love numbers and analyzing numbers, I decided to deep dive into one of my favourite cricketers and who I believe is the next big thing after the fab four retire : Babar Azam.

Overall Babar is on his way up in Test Cricket, a recent loss of form has dented his numbers but no big deal.

What caught my eye about his test stats is his sheer dominance in 2 specific places: Karachi and Rawalpindi. Have a look:

1734600722069.png

6 of his 9 centuries and about 35% of his runs have come on these 2 grounds, isn't this a fascinating stat? Do you know any other such examples? Mahela and Sanga come to mind with PSS Colombo domination.
 
RizwanT20Champ said:
@Buffet @Mamoon @Ab Fan @Nikhil_cric @shah9425 @DeadlyVenom @Bewal Express @RedwoodOriginal @MP2011 @jnaveen1980 @Kianig89 would love to hear your thoughts.
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I think this stat would hold more weight if Pakistan’s pitches weren’t the flat roads they’ve been since 2022.

The only two innings of his I truly rate at these venues are his 196 against Australia in Karachi and his century against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi back in 2019.

The first one is an obvious choice—a brilliant innings under pressure that helped us save a Test match that seemed destined for defeat. The second one didn’t carry much significance in terms of the match result, as it was already heading for a draw. However, as someone fortunate enough to witness it live on the final day amidst a packed crowd in Pindi, I must say it was a fantastic display of Babar at his very best.

This was also the first Test match on Pakistani soil in a decade. After persistent rain in the preceding days dampened the excitement, Babar’s innings was exactly what we all needed to leave the ground with smiles on our faces.
 
RizwanT20Champ said:
As I love numbers and analyzing numbers, I decided to deep dive into one of my favourite cricketers and who I believe is the next big thing after the fab four retire : Babar Azam.

Overall Babar is on his way up in Test Cricket, a recent loss of form has dented his numbers but no big deal.

What caught my eye about his test stats is his sheer dominance in 2 specific places: Karachi and Rawalpindi. Have a look:

View attachment 148764

6 of his 9 centuries and about 35% of his runs have come on these 2 grounds, isn't this a fascinating stat? Do you know any other such examples? Mahela and Sanga come to mind with PSS Colombo domination.
Click to expand...
This actually exposes Babar the test player a bit. He has cashed in on phattas at home. When the think tank decided to go for spin pitches they dropped him.

He needs to make some big scores away from home or in tough conditions at home to be anywhere close to being the next big thing when fab 4 retire.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
This actually exposes Babar the test player a bit. He has cashed in on phattas at home. When the think tank decided to go for spin pitches they dropped him.

He needs to make some big scores away from home or in tough conditions at home to be anywhere close to being the next big thing when fab 4 retire.
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I think he's made enough runs in tough conditions - stonewalling against much vaunted Cummins, Starc and co. on a day 5 pitch for a near double hundred, magnificent ton in Australia - probably the best by visiting batsman in the last decade, ton in SL on turning pitches and not to forget his battles with Dale Steyn in SA. Arthur and Kohli say that Babar is the best batsman in the world today across formats and recent form notwithstanding I agree with that view. Pakistan's greatest since Miandad.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
I think this stat would hold more weight if Pakistan’s pitches weren’t the flat roads they’ve been since 2022.

The only two innings of his I truly rate at these venues are his 196 against Australia in Karachi and his century against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi back in 2019.

The first one is an obvious choice—a brilliant innings under pressure that helped us save a Test match that seemed destined for defeat. The second one didn’t carry much significance in terms of the match result, as it was already heading for a draw. However, as someone fortunate enough to witness it live on the final day amidst a packed crowd in Pindi, I must say it was a fantastic display of Babar at his very best.

This was also the first Test match on Pakistani soil in a decade. After persistent rain in the preceding days dampened the excitement, Babar’s innings was exactly what we all needed to leave the ground with smiles on our faces.
Click to expand...
The SL one I had almost forgotten, indeed that was a masterpiece all things considered. I agree pitches have been a bit flat since 2022 but that's more down to Ramiz being stupid. It actually hurt Pakistan.
 
RizwanT20Champ said:
The SL one I had almost forgotten, indeed that was a masterpiece all things considered. I agree pitches have been a bit flat since 2022 but that's more down to Ramiz being stupid. It actually hurt Pakistan.
Click to expand...
The 2nd highest run in that innings was 18 and Babar alone scored 119 with his longest partnership with Naseem Shah for the 10th wicket. Little do they T20 kids know.
 
Babar looked good in the 2nd ODI. I hope he can find his feet in the upcoming series.
 
He's 30 now & his peak hasn't arrived which is a pretty bad omen. Most greats have at least six to seven notable innings by this time in their career & they cement their legacy by dominating in a few series over the next 3 to 4 years before slowly fading away. Babar has had a mediocre home & away record so far & now a time when he should be at his peak, he is struggling to be in the team.

That is why I rate Younis Khan so highly & it frustrates me that most people ignore his record which includes but is not limited to excellent 4th innings average, continuous improvement in terms of playing spin, an okay game against pace ensuring that he has 50+ average in Aus & Eng, & great test record against Ind. Hanif, Zaheer, Miandad, Inzi, Yousuf, & Younus and after that we haven't had a proper test batter but pretenders like Shafiq technique, Azhar the blocker, & Babar cover drive.
 
Babar Azam playing the reverse sweep in the nets during the practice session ahead of the first Test against the West Indies

dDAOGww.jpg
 
Babar really needs to develop a good sweep shot so that he can get away from the spinner and watch them bowl from the other end. He has been a walking wicket against them for a long time now and this problem is increasing day by day.
 
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