Should Babar Azam make Pakistan’s ICC T20 World Cup (2026) squad?

[RizwanT20Champ]

I guess irony must be dead because the very thing that you are doing right now is being selective with facts by cherry picking Farhan's numbers.

I made a very specific comparison - Babar's performance since 2025 vs. Farhan's performance since 2025, since we are judging them both on their recent form because that's what actually matters if you are selecting someone for a tournament in one month.

And the funny thing is that even in this cherry-picked statistical breakdown, Farhan has a higher strike-rate than Babar's strike-rate last year (114).

Also, Farhan has played zero matches against Australia and New Zealand since returning to the side in 2025, so it's intellectually dishonest to include those numbers against those teams, whom he last played two years ago... long before he regained form in domestic cricket and PSL. The only top team that Farhan has played in the past year is India, against whom he has scored 50 more runs than Babar in two less innings, at only a slightly worse strike-rate. And we are talking about peak Babar here... not the broken down, Temu version of a T20 batsman we see now. Even at his best Babar never played a 150+ SR innings against India like Farhan did in the final.

And again, the point is not to say that Farhan is some great world-beater player, but to show how rubbish Babar has been. Farhan may have alot of flaws but atleast he possesses the ability to play high SR innings which Babar can only dream of at this point in his career. This propaganda may work for the Babar Army fan accounts you're trying to encourage, but no rational cricket fan who actually wants what's best for this team isn't buying any of it.

View attachment 160607

And the goalpost shifting starts....

So you accept that Farhan has only bullied weak teams in his "glory period" that you claim? Like in the Asia Cup where he thundered against Bhumrah with 2 sixes and scored at 115?

When his overall SR even crosses 130 or when he smashes Aus/NZ/SA let us talk. Until then enjoy his Zimbabwe bashing.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Why can’t you judge the players on their own? Why is it always whataboutery?

What are you so scared of? Judge babar as a player. Convince me he’s great or deserves a place in the team without mentioning another player. Tell me what he has done to improve? Tell me about any changes in approach or technique that justifies his place in the team.

I am not sure you understand how cricket works but one of the ways to say Babar deserves a place in the side is showing that he is more worthy of a place in the side than another player or players. This is elementary. We have a tulla captain who strikes at 117 in ODIs, rubbish bowler and hides down the order against big sides. It is completely valid to show how mediocre this tulla Agha is and how Babar the most successful batsman in T20I history deserves a place over such mediocrity. We saw the Usman Khans, Mohammed Harris' of the world...minnow bashers who could do nothing against big boys. The new savior is Farhan with his beautiful 103 SR vs Aus and 87 vs NZ.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

And the goalpost shifting starts....

So you accept that Farhan has only bullied weak teams in his "glory period" that you claim? Like in the Asia Cup where he thundered against Bhumrah with 2 sixes and scored at 115?

When his overall SR even crosses 130 or when he smashes Aus/NZ/SA let us talk. Until then enjoy his Zimbabwe bashing.

I never denied that most of his runs came against weak teams. All Pakistan have done for most of 2025 is play weak teams. But he scored runs against the only top team they played aswell and more importantly, he scored a half-century against India in a high-pressure Asia Cup final too. And those runs came at a SR of 150 which shows that he improved from his previous outings against the same team.

Babar on the other hand it seems can only hammer his favorite team Zimbabwe.

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

I never denied that most of his runs came against weak teams. All Pakistan have done for most of 2025 is play weak teams. But he scored runs against the only top team they played aswell and more importantly, he scored a half-century against India in a high-pressure Asia Cup final too. And those runs came at a SR of 150 which shows that he improved from his previous outings against the same team.

Babar on the other hand it seems can only hammer his favorite team Zimbabwe.

Against top teams (SENA+I)

Babar:



Farhan:





Even in 2025 where apparently Farhan became Bradman:



Before you ask, this includes the chikkay he hit off Bhumrah


In short:

Babar is a proven top performer against big sides. Currently is struggling/needs to improve Strike Rate
Farhan has no performances against big sides, pure minnow basher. In the form of his life but strikes at 120


Make of that what you will.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Against top teams (SENA+I)

Babar:

View attachment 160716

Farhan:

View attachment 160717



Even in 2025 where apparently Farhan became Bradman:

View attachment 160718

Before you ask, this includes the chikkay he hit off Bhumrah


In short:

Babar is a proven top performer against big sides. Currently is struggling/needs to improve Strike Rate
Farhan has no performances against big sides, pure minnow basher. In the form of his life but strikes at 120


Make of that what you will.

Why are you showing me Babar's stats all the way from 2016? What has he done in the past two years? And even these stats are not completely accurate because they don't account for the number of times Babar has smashed the C and D sides of SENA teams in meaningless bilaterals.

 

[salman24]

lol I don't mind Salman in the team because he is the Captain and shows occasional glimpses of being good. However to say he played one innings and still has a lower overall strike rate than Babar that he makes it in front of Babar is ludicrous!

 

[Sachin fan]

Against top teams (SENA+I)

Babar:

View attachment 160716

Farhan:

View attachment 160717



Even in 2025 where apparently Farhan became Bradman:

View attachment 160718

Before you ask, this includes the chikkay he hit off Bhumrah


In short:

Babar is a proven top performer against big sides. Currently is struggling/needs to improve Strike Rate
Farhan has no performances against big sides, pure minnow basher. In the form of his life but strikes at 120


Make of that what you will.

It has been repeated a million times that Farhan is just coming into his career over the last year or so, so showing older stats makes no sense. That's like looking at Sachin's early ODI career for first couple of years and saying he wa the worst batsman ever.

Also babars past stats has nothing to do with his present form and performance so again bringing ancient history makes no sense.

Also the world cup is in Asia so performance outside Asia again doesn't matter for selecting team for this world cup.

 

[Rana]

Also the world cup is in Asia so performance outside Asia again doesn't matter for selecting team for this world cup

They still do raise the question as to how a guy who has played primarily as an opener over 6-7 years has a strike rate of 128. That’s pathetic

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

Why are you showing me Babar's stats all the way from 2016? What has he done in the past two years? And even these stats are not completely accurate because they don't account for the number of times Babar has smashed the C and D sides of SENA teams in meaningless bilaterals.

Better than Farhan even then LOL!

 

[RizwanT20Champ]

It has been repeated a million times that Farhan is just coming into his career over the last year or so, so showing older stats makes no sense. That's like looking at Sachin's early ODI career for first couple of years and saying he wa the worst batsman ever.

Also babars past stats has nothing to do with his present form and performance so again bringing ancient history makes no sense.

Also the world cup is in Asia so performance outside Asia again doesn't matter for selecting team for this world cup.

Before running to talk about Sachin everywhere take the time to read. Farhan is striking at 120 this year vs SENAI all those matches were played in Pak or UAE so nothing was outside Asia.

This is what happens when Hindi posters poke their noses where they don't belong.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

View attachment 160723Better than Farhan even then LOL!

Why hide the complete picture? Because it exposes Babar for the fraud he is? You have a problem with Farhan scoring against weak teams, but what about Babar statpadding against Ireland and New Zealand D?

In the last two years, Babar has scored 7 half-centuries - 3 against NZ D, 2 against Ireland, 1 against Zimbabwe and 1 against South Africa D.

Even against minnows he barely manages to strike above 130.

 

[TheSultan]

I am not sure you understand how cricket works but one of the ways to say Babar deserves a place in the side is showing that he is more worthy of a place in the side than another player or players. This is elementary. We have a tulla captain who strikes at 117 in ODIs, rubbish bowler and hides down the order against big sides. It is completely valid to show how mediocre this tulla Agha is and how Babar the most successful batsman in T20I history deserves a place over such mediocrity. We saw the Usman Khans, Mohammed Harris' of the world...minnow bashers who could do nothing against big boys. The new savior is Farhan with his beautiful 103 SR vs Aus and 87 vs NZ.

Ok let’s say agha has been rubbish, no problem. Why should Babar replace him, what has Babar done to replace him?

what exactly has Babar done against the “big boys”? He’s getting bullied by second tier bowlers in the BBL!

Talk to me about Babar only - convince me his form and his performances over the last two years warrant his selection.

Come on champ

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

So, I’m wary of a pile-on on @RizwanT20Champ , but stats, when presented with specific parameters, can tell a clear story. Without any bias or partiality. The following are Babar’s t20 numbers vs SENA + India at non-home venues (I.e. ICC events and away bilaterals) since 2024. This is because every SENA team sends their C team to play us at home. As you can see from below, he starts 2024 at a good to respectable s/r, however as the year goes on, his scores start to plateau and regress and his s/r is never consistently high for an impactful score.

 

[KingOfPakBreakfast]

To follow on from the previous posts, his runs in NZ come against a decent NZ attack (if not a world beating one):



The scores against England are Ok, but the only impactful s/r one is when he’s opening: The England attack faced here is a good one and the performance, in context, is middling, considering he’s Pakistan’s go to batter, at the time:


We then see regression against both SA and Australia away, against B and C level attacks. The Australia attack:


and a SA attack of players that, with all due respect, I’ve barely heard of:



All this paints the picture of a player in clear decline. His BBL performances as well as his ones Vs SA and Zim at home clearly point to this. The only reason he’s even still a consideration is because others haven’t ruled him out of contention w/ their own performances.

 

[heddie19]

On a completely unrelated note, from what year is that Ian Bishop quote on your signature from? 2018?

2022.

Ian Bishop Predicts Babar Azam to Become a Legend in White-Ball Cricket

West Indian cricketer-turned-commentator, Ian Bishop, has praised Pakistan captain Babar Azam, claiming that he will be the greatest white-ball cricketer

propakistani.pk