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Say what you want, but Babar Azam is still Pakistan’s most gifted batter

Pakistani Pace

Pakistani Pace

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Joined
Feb 26, 2015
Runs
3,590
Say what u want about Babar but after all that’s happened I think we can all agree that he is the most gifted and technically talented batsman Pakistan has produced in the last 15 years..

I mean if we’re talking about pure skill & his text-book technique it’s undeniable that there’s any batsman in Pakistan at the moment better than him.

I remember even at one point a few years ago English & Aussie fans were comparing him to Kohli.. which in itself is a big achievement since when did we ever think we could produce a batsman being discussed in the same ranks as this eras ATGs.

Hopefully this recent drop from the Asia Cup has made him hungry once again & he can find his form and placement in the team…
 
Pakistani Pace said:
Say what u want about Babar but after all that’s happened I think we can all agree that he is the most gifted and technically talented batsman Pakistan has produced in the last 15 years..

I mean if we’re talking about pure skill & his text-book technique it’s undeniable that there’s any batsman in Pakistan at the moment better than him.

I remember even at one point a few years ago English & Aussie fans were comparing him to Kohli.. which in itself is a big achievement since when did we ever think we could produce a batsman being discussed in the same ranks as this eras ATGs.

Hopefully this recent drop from the Asia Cup has made him hungry once again & he can find his form and placement in the team…
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1892242715791733121
 
Pakistani Pace said:
Say what u want about Babar but after all that’s happened I think we can all agree that he is the most gifted and technically talented batsman Pakistan has produced in the last 15 years..

I mean if we’re talking about pure skill & his text-book technique it’s undeniable that there’s any batsman in Pakistan at the moment better than him.

I remember even at one point a few years ago English & Aussie fans were comparing him to Kohli.. which in itself is a big achievement since when did we ever think we could produce a batsman being discussed in the same ranks as this eras ATGs.

Hopefully this recent drop from the Asia Cup has made him hungry once again & he can find his form and placement in the team…
Click to expand...
https://twitter.com/x/status/1893598088368976039
 
No one questions his skills but he has the brain of a goldfish when it comes to captaincy and he’s extremely nepotistic. He can play as a batsman but captaincy and decisions should be far removed from him.
 
Best Asian talent with the bat of the last 20 years. If any other batsman went through the same domestic set up he had to go through they wouldn’t even make it to international level because of all the sabotage and inept coaches to screw you over.

However he doesn’t have the same level of marketing behind him that other batsmen in the world have had to paper over his weaknesses
:sachin
 
Pakistani Pace said:
Say what u want about Babar but after all that’s happened I think we can all agree that he is the most gifted and technically talented batsman Pakistan has produced in the last 15 years..

I mean if we’re talking about pure skill & his text-book technique it’s undeniable that there’s any batsman in Pakistan at the moment better than him.

I remember even at one point a few years ago English & Aussie fans were comparing him to Kohli.. which in itself is a big achievement since when did we ever think we could produce a batsman being discussed in the same ranks as this eras ATGs.

Hopefully this recent drop from the Asia Cup has made him hungry once again & he can find his form and placement in the team…
Click to expand...
He was dropped because his strike rate was not suited for current T20 international style of cricket. Just because team failed in Asia cup does not make him the ideal choice. His game and Rizwan are too slow for T20 international brand of cricket. Replacing one wrong with another wrong does not make the act right. Babbar Azam was the one who never won any tournament for Pakistan. He only scored selfishly to remain in top 10 cricketers at the cost of pakidtan not winning any tournament. Babbar Azam was in the team that lost to USA, Lost Asia cup 50 over lost world cup in India. He is inflated to be great but he is just a good player. But never thrives in pressure situation.
 
Hitman said:
An average of 42.77 after 59 Tests with 1 century in SENA.
Click to expand...

This average I believe was close to 47 by the middle of 2023. You can tell how pathetic he has been in the past 2.5 years for it to have fallen to 42.77 today
 
People are being too harsh. He loat form post 2022.

Before that he was a good batsmen and much better then Pakistan's current crop.

Yes the kohli comparisons and best in the world nonsense was uncalled for but he was a good batsmen.

Just cause he fizzled out doesn't mean we automatically pretend as if he was always crap and isn't significantly superior to every batsmen in the current lineup excluding Prime Fakhar Zaman who is genuinely superior
 
Savak said:
This average I believe was close to 47 by the middle of 2023. You can tell how pathetic he has been in the past 2.5 years for it to have fallen to 42.77 today
Click to expand...
That despite getting highways laid out by the then PCB Chairman Rameez Raja at home.
 
Hitman said:
An average of 42.77 after 59 Tests with 1 century in SENA.
Click to expand...
Hate to break it to you, Babar’s Average in SENA is better than our King Kohli. 42.77 > 42.08. The stat you posted is not something worthy of criticism.
 
starpain said:
Hate to break it to you, Babar’s Average in SENA is better than our King Kohli. 42.77 > 42.08. The stat you posted is not something worthy of criticism.
Click to expand...
Don't worry it will be under 40 by the time he retires, you do understand that Virat had 123 Tests to Babar's 59 Tests right. At the exact point in his career, which 59 Tests, Virat had an average of 48.84 in SENA with 7 Test hundreds. So before you start comparing just numbers understand how the game works. Babar will do well to be anywhere close to 40 by the time he gets to 100 Tests, if he in fact gets there.
 
Suleiman said:
Best Asian talent with the bat of the last 20 years. If any other batsman went through the same domestic set up he had to go through they wouldn’t even make it to international level because of all the sabotage and inept coaches to screw you over.
Click to expand...
How do you measure talent?
Genuine question. Like technically sound, playing late, fast reflexes??

I mean what is the barometer?

He has a good cover drive and good at leaving balls not in his zone but other than those, he cannot be differentiated with 20+ batsmen produced in the last 2 decades in Asia. Even Pathum Nissanka from Srilanka plays as well as Babar now.
 
giri26 said:
Don't worry it will be under 40 by the time he retires, you do understand that Virat had 123 Tests to Babar's 59 Tests right. At the exact point in his career, which 59 Tests, Virat had an average of 48.84 in SENA with 7 Test hundreds. So before you start comparing just numbers understand how the game works. Babar will do well to be anywhere close to 40 by the time he gets to 100 Tests, if he in fact gets there.
Click to expand...
His average or that stat is not bad, that’s all I am saying 😂. Especially for a player of team that is not top ranked or have high batting standard like India.
 
starpain said:
His average or that stat is not bad, that’s all I am saying 😂. Especially for a player of team that is not top ranked or have high batting standard like India.
Click to expand...
If you wanted to say that why to bring Virat's stats in there? It did not make sense. Also it is not good even going by Pakistan's standard as Babar was expected to be the next big thing in world cricket. Pakistan also has a great legacy of batters like Zaheer Abbas, Miandad, Anwar, Yousuf, Inzamam, Younis etc. The criticism of Babar as a Test batter is warranted as he has grossly under achieved. He may not be a great but he should be averaging 45 with the bat at least and with more than 1 Test hundred in SENA.
 
giri26 said:
Don't worry it will be under 40 by the time he retires, you do understand that Virat had 123 Tests to Babar's 59 Tests right. At the exact point in his career, which 59 Tests, Virat had an average of 48.84 in SENA with 7 Test hundreds. So before you start comparing just numbers understand how the game works. Babar will do well to be anywhere close to 40 by the time he gets to 100 Tests, if he in fact gets there.
Click to expand...
42 average in tough away tours is impressive in modern era.

How many players have better average than 42.77 in Away SENAI tour? I think they are only Root and Smith. Even players who some view as modern legends like Warner, Williamson have worse average than that.

My post was more stats focussed not player focussed ie I am not praising or bashing Babar as a batsmen.
 
starpain said:
42 average in tough away tours is impressive in modern era.

How many players have better average than 42.77 in Away SENAI tour? I think they are only Root and Smith. Even players who some view as modern legends like Warner, Williamson have worse average than that.

My post was more stats focussed not player focussed ie I am not praising or bashing Babar as a batsmen.
Click to expand...
His average was never been an issue but it was his strike rate in T20 cricket that is a bit of concern because you don't expect to win many matches against top teams when your best batter bats with a strike rate of 120-130.
 
Theanonymousone said:
How do you measure talent?
Genuine question. Like technically sound, playing late, fast reflexes??

I mean what is the barometer?

He has a good cover drive and good at leaving balls not in his zone but other than those, he cannot be differentiated with 20+ batsmen produced in the last 2 decades in Asia. Even Pathum Nissanka from Srilanka plays as well as Babar now.
Click to expand...
By nationality.
 
starpain said:
42 average in tough away tours is impressive in modern era.

How many players have better average than 42.77 in Away SENAI tour? I think they are only Root and Smith. Even players who some view as modern legends like Warner, Williamson have worse average than that.

My post was more stats focussed not player focussed ie I am not praising or bashing Babar as a batsmen.
Click to expand...
Didn't you read the post above yours?
 
hassan918 said:
His average was never been an issue but it was his strike rate in T20 cricket that is a bit of concern because you don't expect to win many matches against top teams when your best batter bats with a strike rate of 120-130.
Click to expand...
Fakhar zaman played 100 t20i with same sr
Current captain has 117 sr

What are we dropping him for?
 
Hitman said:
And yet you lied that Babar averages 42 odd in SENA?
Click to expand...
Yes unfortunately. But I simply read your post and accepted it as source of truth. I think I shouldn’t get all the blame for that blunder 😁. My point about 42 away average being very good still stands.
 
starpain said:
Yes unfortunately. But I simply read your post and accepted it as source of truth. I think I shouldn’t get all the blame for that blunder 😁. My point about 42 away average being very good still stands.
Click to expand...
I claimed that to be his overall Test average. Him having 1 century in SENA was a different matter.
 
Yk is Pakistans best batsman and he averages 43.8 in SENA.

42 is a respectable average especially in this era.
 
Hitman said:
I claimed that to be his overall Test average. Him having 1 century in SENA was a different matter.
Click to expand...
42.77 average with 1 hundred didn’t make sense to me as overall SENA stat as opposed to Away. Even i knew beforehand although I don’t follow Babar that much that he had several hundreds against SENA at home.
 
Milestones Await Babar Azam:

- Needs 70 more runs to become the only cricketer with 4300+ runs in all three formats.

- Just 131 runs vs South Africa away from being the first Pakistani with 2000+ runs against every SENA team.

- Only one fifty short of holding the record for most 50+ scores in T20I history.
 
Ball Blazer said:
Milestones Await Babar Azam:

- Needs 70 more runs to become the only cricketer with 4300+ runs in all three formats.

- Just 131 runs vs South Africa away from being the first Pakistani with 2000+ runs against every SENA team.

- Only one fifty short of holding the record for most 50+ scores in T20I history.
Click to expand...

Padded his stats as captain playing soft cricket as opener with all the fielders standing in against C string attacks, mubarak to all PPers though.
 
Still waiting for Babar to win some Player of the tournament/series & POTM award in WC or against big opposition or even in small tri nation series
 
Most M.O.M Awards in T20I WC's (Career Runs above 3000). Stat of the day for my darling @Rana

Virat Kohli - 8
Rohit Sharma - 3
Jos Buttler - 3
Martin Guptill - 2
Mohd Rizwan - 2
David Warner - 2
Aaron Finch - 2
Paul Stirling - 1
Mohd Waseem - 1
Babar Azam - 0
 
After playing cricket for a decade and failing miserably against spin, makes him probably THE worst top/middle order glorified Pak bat AFAIK. Also, looking at his batting against fast bowlers during him prime would make you wonder about his reasons for failure in a long run. It is a wasted talent who could have achieved far more with a little discipline in life - the bane of south Asian society (especially Pakistanis).
I guess fame/success does not jive well with many of us. We seldom do long term planning and get satisfied with short term achievements sacrificing greatness.
 
Local.Dada said:
Most M.O.M Awards in T20I WC's (Career Runs above 3000). Stat of the day for my darling @Rana

Virat Kohli - 8
Rohit Sharma - 3
Jos Buttler - 3
Martin Guptill - 2
Mohd Rizwan - 2
David Warner - 2
Aaron Finch - 2
Paul Stirling - 1
Mohd Waseem - 1
Babar Azam - 0
Click to expand...
Who were they against

Canada and?
 
Katwalindian said:
From 2018-21 he scored against all kind of attacks.....
Click to expand...

I know the NZ knock in 2019 occurred then & that hundred against AUS on a flat pitch to draw, but what else is there, was he consistently impactful against first string attacks?

Assuming he was, it has been almost half a decade & he should be well established by now as one of the best batters in the world & that’s just not the case, we’ve witnessed a remarkable decline since he became captain especially and forged a friendship with Rizwan.
 
Scored odi hundred against SA in SA against rabada, Nortje to help pak win
Scored 100 in Australia in tests and another 98 in pink ball tests
Scored 158 agaibst england in england in 2021 in odi
Scored 100 against wood, archer in england tour 2019
Scored 70 ret hurt in lords test 2018 after being hit by Broad otherwise 100 was guarneeted
Scored t20 hundred against SA in SA to help chase 200 odd against B string attack but still he cant do it now

shaz619 said:
I know the NZ knock in 2019 occurred then & that hundred against AUS on a flat pitch to draw, but what else is there, was he consistently impactful against first string attacks?

Assuming he was, it has been almost half a decade & he should be well established by now as one of the best batters in the world & that’s just not the case, we’ve witnessed a remarkable decline since he became captain especially and forged a friendship with Rizwan
Click to expand...
 
Local.Dada said:
Most M.O.M Awards in T20I WC's (Career Runs above 3000). Stat of the day for my darling @Rana

Virat Kohli - 8
Rohit Sharma - 3
Jos Buttler - 3
Martin Guptill - 2
Mohd Rizwan - 2
David Warner - 2
Aaron Finch - 2
Paul Stirling - 1
Mohd Waseem - 1
Babar Azam - 0
Click to expand...
Do we have a list of players with the most MOTs as well?
This is why Babar wouldn’t even make it into the top 10 T20 cricketers list, lack of impact and poor SR make his runs meaningless, no matter how many he scores by the end of his career. Most of his runs have come either against B teams or through useless stat-padding.
 
RedwoodOriginal said:
Babar is the perfect player for this TikTok generation. They can make cheesy reels of his cover drives with Punjabi music in the background which is great for their short attention-spans because a Babar Azam innings these days lasts about as long as a TikTok reel anyway
Click to expand...
They have innovated over the years with some Russian techno music as well.
 
Varun said:
He kind of reminds me of Ajinkya Rahane.
Click to expand...
That's quite an insult to Rahane who by all accounts was a genuine match winner in SENA test matches.
The only Indian that he reminds of or resembles is Kaif, Intact he is so much like Kaif & Dippenaar. Both of these guys had difficulties scoring comfortably against fast bowling,they simply didn't have the power game to hit sixes whenever it needed the most. However they were both very good players of spin bowling which even Babar's biggest fangirl can't claim now-a-days.
 
Babar Azam is unarguably the best Pakistan has to offer, nobody comes close to him from our domestic circle.

I saw him playing first time when he was in his early teenage - the moment is saw him I knew he will definitely be a big name in Pakistan cricket.
 
Katwalindian said:
Scored odi hundred against SA in SA against rabada, Nortje to help pak win
Scored 100 in Australia in tests and another 98 in pink ball tests
Scored 158 agaibst england in england in 2021 in odi
Scored 100 against wood, archer in england tour 2019
Scored 70 ret hurt in lords test 2018 after being hit by Broad otherwise 100 was guarneeted
Scored t20 hundred against SA in SA to help chase 200 odd against B string attack but still he cant do it now
Click to expand...

Time to cut a cake then I guess
 
VForVendetta said:
That's quite an insult to Rahane who by all accounts was a genuine match winner in SENA test matches.
The only Indian that he reminds of or resembles is Kaif, Intact he is so much like Kaif & Dippenaar. Both of these guys had difficulties scoring comfortably against fast bowling,they simply didn't have the power game to hit sixes whenever it needed the most. However they were both very good players of spin bowling which even Babar's biggest fangirl can't claim now-a-days.
Click to expand...
Kaif won Natwest classic by chasing 326
 
Yeah he is gifted but he still has a long way to go... His form atm is under dirt...

He played a very good knock last night, which could be his comeback inning... He was looking in control there... Good to see the signs but Babar has to work harder.
 
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