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[VIDEO] Babar Azam is quite overrated

At least try to hide the fact that you are a troll lol. Babar is one of the best in the world. His poise and balance, ability to pick the length of the ball, ease of playing shots, and hunger for scoring runs are all world-class.

His test career has just started and he has his whole career in front of him. He is 25 and only in the last 2 years has gotten the gist of test cricket. And considering the fact that we play so little test cricket and played none at home before 2019 is means that he has played fewer Tests and even fewer in favorable conditions than his counterparts.

Every time an Indian batsman does well in cricket, A thread is either bumped or a new one is created to slander Babar. The self-hatred and insecurity are unreal here. This "Pakistani Batsmen will be a level below Indian batsmen cuz batting culture etc" nonsense reminds me of the Indian Pacers can never be better than Indian one's argument. Babar in time will make his own legacy but trolls will always be there belittle him, like they do other great cricketers of the past.
Did you even understand what I meant. Babar is a very good batsman but he has limitation to score under pressure against quality team. Babar would have failed in today’s match against Australia.
 
Babar Azam is truely world class and I feel he is around the level that most people see him i.e. one of the world's best. He may be over rated by some PPers but that's not surprising, when you see people posting threads like "Abdullah Shafique vs Shubman Gill" but in general he is not over rated, commentators and pundits often refer to him and use him as a benchmark. Definitely not a minnow basher. And he will end as one of Pakistan's greatest ever batsmen.

Won't judge him on his ability to play innings like Stokes and Pant as that isn't his game. We can compare him to batsmen with similar role i.e. the likes of Root, Williamson, Smith and Kohli. He can be as good as all of them

WITH THE EXCEPTION OF KOHLI IN THE 2nd INNINGS

He can be Kohli level in 1st innings in terms of consistency but won't be able to chase down targets like Kohli, although it doesn't help Babar is in an awful team.
 
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Babar is a triple format batter and a world class one. Top 5 in the world easily. No idea how anyone could even think otherwise. His technique is like a swiss watch.
 
I would say that Babar with his great technique has already become a better batsman than Miandad. You are a stats guy, so I think you are waiting for the stats to show this.

No doubt, he is one of the best batsmen in the world. However, to win matches all great players need a supporting cast and he doesn't have one. That said, if I was a Pakistani, then in the last WC, facing an Indian total of 337, I would have liked him to have scored a century at a strike rate of 125%, to give his team a chance.

Pant is nowhere close to Babar as a batsman, yet he produced a match winning knock yesterday in a hugely important game, something far exceptional than what his level suggests. Babar needs to exceed himself in the most important games.

Babar Azam has played only 29 tests. He is still only 26 yrs old. Given his potential , i have a feeling he is due a big year, where he will make 5-6 centuries in a year.
Pant is a impact player like Laxman. But I don't expect him to be 50+ avg batter. But he will play more match winning knocks than most. I just hope he improve his keeping a notch.
 
Babar Azam has played only 29 tests. He is still only 26 yrs old. Given his potential , i have a feeling he is due a big year, where he will make 5-6 centuries in a year.
Pant is a impact player like Laxman. But I don't expect him to be 50+ avg batter. But he will play more match winning knocks than most. I just hope he improve his keeping a notch.

agreed with your position on Pant
 
Chickening out against NZ because of a broken hand so that Rizwan has to face the music of a disastrous NZ tour wasn't a wise decision. His captaincy would've been exposed so easier to not affect his legacy, which will be a cluster of home wins from now on for a while.

This is one of the most absurd posts I have read. Babar couldn't even hold his bat properly and you were expecting him to miraculously play? At least have some logic. Many Indian players were injured and they missed tests. Are they chickens? No. We finally have a great batsman who we can be proud and we have people writing these kind of posts. No need to hide, just say you hate him.

Protecting your players is not an act of cowardice, it is actually important to long term success. Babar is only overrated to those who give unrealistic expectations to him, they are desperate to compare our players to India's. These posters have an inferiority complex, those who are sane refrain from absurd comparisons. Babar is not overrated, he is our jewel and he sure is not a coward.
 
Babar Azam is currently the best test batsman in the world after Steve Smith
 
This is one of the most absurd posts I have read. Babar couldn't even hold his bat properly and you were expecting him to miraculously play? At least have some logic. Many Indian players were injured and they missed tests. Are they chickens? No. We finally have a great batsman who we can be proud and we have people writing these kind of posts. No need to hide, just say you hate him.

Protecting your players is not an act of cowardice, it is actually important to long term success. Babar is only overrated to those who give unrealistic expectations to him, they are desperate to compare our players to India's. These posters have an inferiority complex, those who are sane refrain from absurd comparisons. Babar is not overrated, he is our jewel and he sure is not a coward.

Babar is overrated by most Pakistanis.

Why?

There have been numerous posts saying that he is: a better overall batsman than Root, and a better white-ball batsman than Smith and Williamson.

Now after Smith’s ODI series vs India, is Babar still better? No, he never was. Babar is not a complete white ball batsman. He cannot hit sixes and play consistently at 120+ SR.

KW similarly has shown his improved hitting in the last 1.5 years.

Babar succeeds on slow pitches, but on true batting tracks he cannot bat quickly enough. This is the story of his career so far.

Root just smashed a double-ton in SL. Is Babar better? No, he never was. Form is temporary, but class is permanent and Root has always been a cut above of him.

In Tests, he has ATG potential, but I predict him to be Amla-esque in the shorter formats.

He has to prove himself by chasing 200+ (T20Is) or 300+ (ODIs). He has not done either and if you cannot do that then you are not a great LOI batsman.

Moral of the story is that do not overhype Pakistani players just because they are Pakistani.

This stands for Haider Ali or Abdullah Shafique vs Shubman Gill threads as well. One is clearly better than the others, but the comparison are made because of a young overhyped Pakistani.

It’s clear that PCB messed up by making him all formats captain because Babar is not a natural leader.

But if the cricket board is that desperate then the fans would be the same.

I wish him all the best, but it would be better for Pakistan cricket if they produce a couple more great batsman. Babar alone is not going to take Pakistan anywhere because he just does not have the hitting talent that legends like Sir Viv and ABD had.
 
He is overrated and I can go on and on by stating why.

But I am not because he is still 26 and improving so hopefully he goes on to become the greatest batsman of this era because he has had the perfect start to his international career.
 
Babar is overrated by most Pakistanis.

Why?

There have been numerous posts saying that he is: a better overall batsman than Root, and a better white-ball batsman than Smith and Williamson.

Now after Smith’s ODI series vs India, is Babar still better? No, he never was. Babar is not a complete white ball batsman. He cannot hit sixes and play consistently at 120+ SR.

KW similarly has shown his improved hitting in the last 1.5 years.

Babar succeeds on slow pitches, but on true batting tracks he cannot bat quickly enough. This is the story of his career so far.

Root just smashed a double-ton in SL. Is Babar better? No, he never was. Form is temporary, but class is permanent and Root has always been a cut above of him.

In Tests, he has ATG potential, but I predict him to be Amla-esque in the shorter formats.

He has to prove himself by chasing 200+ (T20Is) or 300+ (ODIs). He has not done either and if you cannot do that then you are not a great LOI batsman.

Moral of the story is that do not overhype Pakistani players just because they are Pakistani.

This stands for Haider Ali or Abdullah Shafique vs Shubman Gill threads as well. One is clearly better than the others, but the comparison are made because of a young overhyped Pakistani.

It’s clear that PCB messed up by making him all formats captain because Babar is not a natural leader.

But if the cricket board is that desperate then the fans would be the same.

I wish him all the best, but it would be better for Pakistan cricket if they produce a couple more great batsman. Babar alone is not going to take Pakistan anywhere because he just does not have the hitting talent that legends like Sir Viv and ABD had.

Yes some have overrated him. He is not better than the Fab 4 in Tests for sure atm. He hasn’t played enough Tests or scored enough big hundreds. However, in LOI cricket I think he is up there with the best. True he doesn’t have the gear of the fab 4 batsman, but he does his job as an anchor well enough. I feel a killer streak is developing and he will take more responsibility and score well as captain.

Also, his T20I record is up there with the best in the format, he is yet to play a World T20 so we can only judge on Bilaterals and he has pretty much scored well against everyone. In the T20 format his runs are not soft. Smith is a great batsman, but how many of his ODI tons are outside of Australia? Not denying he is a great batsman, but he can’t play those dynamic knocks outside of Australia.

Babar Azam is no Hashim Amla. Amla couldn’t dream to play a knock in a pressure WC game like Babar did against NZ. It is true he has bashed weaker teams, but by the end of his career things will balance out - he has the quality to score consistently vs the best teams.

Regarding the last point, very few players can single handedly win matches. You need a support cast all the time and the truth is that Babar doesn’t have a Rohit Sharma or David Warner to support him.
 
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In LOIs(as an accumulator) I am still fine with his hype. He deserves it tbh

In Tests, he’s overhyped tbf. Tests are not won by scoring 60+. You’ve to get hundreds and daddy hundreds

Absolutely , however i think this SA series will define his test career. he certainly has the skills .
 
Did you even understand what I meant. Babar is a very good batsman but he has limitation to score under pressure against quality team. Babar would have failed in today’s match against Australia.

Lol, what are you even talking about? Are you sure you are not thinking about Asad Shafiq? When on Earth will Pakistan be in the same position against Australia, when has it ever happened before? Pakistan can never get Aus out for under 350. India has done consistently so. Babar on his last tour made a 100 odd and a 97 in his 4 innings. How can you know Babar couldn't replicate this in a scenario where India was. Babar has never played with his team in such a commanding position.

Your points are based on nothing, just bait.
 
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Lol, what are you even talking about? Are you sure you are not thinking about Asad Shafiq? When on Earth will Pakistan be in the same position against Australia, when has it ever happened before? Pakistan can never get Aus out for under 350. India has done consistently so. Babar on his last tour made a 100 odd and a 97 in his 4 innings. How can you know Babar couldn't replicate this in a scenario where India was. Babar has never played with his team in such a commanding position.

Your points are based on nothing, just bait.

2 things:
1 I am talking about yesterday’s match
2 He needs to work on power batting in ODI
 
The problem with Babar is his temperament he looks like to score a big score but tends to get out in 60 and 70 kinda like Root but when Root starts going he scores a big one ,Iam sure Babar will fix his problems.
 
2 things:
1 I am talking about yesterday’s match
2 He needs to work on power batting in ODI

What does Babar have to do with yesterday's match? Like kuch bhi lol. "He needs to work on his power batting" come on unless you stopped following cricket after 2018 you would have seen that his power-hitting has been improving steadily, at the end of the day he is a proper batsman, not a slogger. He will never hit sixes like Pant, Haidar, Russel, Rohit, and AB. It is not his game and neither it should be. Cricket is a team game. If you expect your no. 3 batsman to accumulate, play proper cricket, hit sixes, and win games single-handedly against great teams with 10 sticks then you are not looking for a batsman, you are looking for, you are looking for a miracle.
 
I think Babars reputation could have taken a dent in England and New Zealand had he not got injured. He managed to come out of the series with his reputation intact while others suffered. He has a chance to really cash in no in the home series and build a profile.
 
Babar is overrated by most Pakistanis.

Why?

There have been numerous posts saying that he is: a better overall batsman than Root, and a better white-ball batsman than Smith and Williamson.

Now after Smith’s ODI series vs India, is Babar still better? No, he never was. Babar is not a complete white ball batsman. He cannot hit sixes and play consistently at 120+ SR.

KW similarly has shown his improved hitting in the last 1.5 years.

Babar succeeds on slow pitches, but on true batting tracks he cannot bat quickly enough. This is the story of his career so far.

Root just smashed a double-ton in SL. Is Babar better? No, he never was. Form is temporary, but class is permanent and Root has always been a cut above of him.

In Tests, he has ATG potential, but I predict him to be Amla-esque in the shorter formats.

He has to prove himself by chasing 200+ (T20Is) or 300+ (ODIs). He has not done either and if you cannot do that then you are not a great LOI batsman.

Moral of the story is that do not overhype Pakistani players just because they are Pakistani.

This stands for Haider Ali or Abdullah Shafique vs Shubman Gill threads as well. One is clearly better than the others, but the comparison are made because of a young overhyped Pakistani.

It’s clear that PCB messed up by making him all formats captain because Babar is not a natural leader.

But if the cricket board is that desperate then the fans would be the same.

I wish him all the best, but it would be better for Pakistan cricket if they produce a couple more great batsman. Babar alone is not going to take Pakistan anywhere because he just does not have the hitting talent that legends like Sir Viv and ABD had.

POTW - best post of the year so far. Joy to read and great analysis.

I fully agree with you especially in regards to him not being a natural leader. I also agree that he's overrated by Pakistanis.
 
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Babar is a good batsman but this thread is fine, he is overrated by pakistani fans. I struggle to recall any top innings of his which can he remembered for a long time.

Those saying he will he the greatest Pakistan batsman of all time, are probably young lads who have watched cricket for some 10 yrs or so, or are saying based on recency bias which is highly prevalent on this forum.

Personally I rate Babar, but he has to do a lot more to be called a great, even a pakistani great. I never found him to be threatening, like when you had Inzamam at the crease, Saeed Anwar, Yousuf, these were far more threatening players, you never felt the game is out of Pakistan's reach when they were batting. I don't find that kind of threat with Azam.
 
Babar is not Perera, Stokes, Pant type player. His role is more of Kohli, Root, Smith, Kane. It's not his fault that there are mediocre players around him in the team. Babar is already in top 5 of the world in tests, top 3 in ODIs and T20s. He will definitely play some gems in his career going forward. he is just getting started.
 
Babar is a good batsman but this thread is fine, he is overrated by pakistani fans. I struggle to recall any top innings of his which can he remembered for a long time.

Those saying he will he the greatest Pakistan batsman of all time, are probably young lads who have watched cricket for some 10 yrs or so, or are saying based on recency bias which is highly prevalent on this forum.

Personally I rate Babar, but he has to do a lot more to be called a great, even a pakistani great. I never found him to be threatening, like when you had Inzamam at the crease, Saeed Anwar, Yousuf, these were far more threatening players, you never felt the game is out of Pakistan's reach when they were batting. I don't find that kind of threat with Azam.

100 against New Zealand in world cup in swinging conditions. We could have fallen like India in the semi final but Babar was there to hold the fort and steer us through. Tell me one such back to the wall innings from Kohli.
 
Babar is overrated by most Pakistanis.

Why?

There have been numerous posts saying that he is: a better overall batsman than Root, and a better white-ball batsman than Smith and Williamson.

Now after Smith’s ODI series vs India, is Babar still better? No, he never was. Babar is not a complete white ball batsman. He cannot hit sixes and play consistently at 120+ SR.

KW similarly has shown his improved hitting in the last 1.5 years.

Babar succeeds on slow pitches, but on true batting tracks he cannot bat quickly enough. This is the story of his career so far.

Root just smashed a double-ton in SL. Is Babar better? No, he never was. Form is temporary, but class is permanent and Root has always been a cut above of him.

In Tests, he has ATG potential, but I predict him to be Amla-esque in the shorter formats.

He has to prove himself by chasing 200+ (T20Is) or 300+ (ODIs). He has not done either and if you cannot do that then you are not a great LOI batsman.

Moral of the story is that do not overhype Pakistani players just because they are Pakistani.

This stands for Haider Ali or Abdullah Shafique vs Shubman Gill threads as well. One is clearly better than the others, but the comparison are made because of a young overhyped Pakistani.

It’s clear that PCB messed up by making him all formats captain because Babar is not a natural leader.

But if the cricket board is that desperate then the fans would be the same.

I wish him all the best, but it would be better for Pakistan cricket if they produce a couple more great batsman. Babar alone is not going to take Pakistan anywhere because he just does not have the hitting talent that legends like Sir Viv and ABD had.

What do you cal a true surface do the english pitches have that do Australian pitches have that ?
 
Disagree.

Babar has been top 10 in all 3 formats for quite some time.

And he’s currently #3 in ODI’s, #6 in Tests, and #2 (unfairly imo since he lost points for not playing) in T20s.

If this is overrated, then I don’t know what passes for decent nowadays.

OP should have distinguished the two phrases he used and said Babar has not had a breakthrough performance. And my answer is, he does not need to.

He plays for an average team and has to captain it as well in all three formats while being 26. Consistency is what is required and a good head to ensure we don’t have any scandals like before.

If Babar continues to average 50+ in ODIs and Tests (currently at 45 but will get there), then he has to be respected.

Not everyone can be a brash outspoken star like Richards or Kohli. Most great batsmen have been short and quiet. Babar fits into that historical mold.
 
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Averages and Strike Rates in T20I:

Babar Azam - Average of 50.93 at 130 SR with 16 50's in 44 games (42 innings)

Steven Smith - Average of 27.37 at 130 SR with 4 50s in 45 games (37 innings)

Kane Williamson - Average of 33.13 at 125 SR with 12 50's in 62 games (60 innings)

Joe Root - Average of 35.72 at 126 SR with 5 50's in 32 games (30 innings)

This proves Babar is not overrated in the T20 format at all. I certainly wouldn't rate the above names over him - look at the difference in average and 50's.
 
Averages and Strike Rates in T20I:

Babar Azam - Average of 50.93 at 130 SR with 16 50's in 44 games (42 innings)

Steven Smith - Average of 27.37 at 130 SR with 4 50s in 45 games (37 innings)

Kane Williamson - Average of 33.13 at 125 SR with 12 50's in 62 games (60 innings)

Joe Root - Average of 35.72 at 126 SR with 5 50's in 32 games (30 innings)

This proves Babar is not overrated in the T20 format at all. I certainly wouldn't rate the above names over him - look at the difference in average and 50's.
Babar lacks the batting skills that they have. Those statistics will not prove anything.
 
Babar lacks the batting skills that they have. Those statistics will not prove anything.

It proves that Babar is much more consistent than all of these players in the format. All of them have similar roles of being anchors so hitting whilst valuable, is not the sole criteria to judge all 4 of these players. Babar has the highest SR and none of these players will consistently smash, it is not their role. If we are judging them on their role, Babar comes out on top.
 
I haven't posted since creating the thread.

A lot of posters talking about how it is OK for Babar to play this way because at the end of the day he's not playing with/for a good team.

Let me ask you, does Bangladesh have a good team?

I already know your answer and I have a one name response....Shakib.

Just like all the example I gave in my original post, let me add to that.

Bangladesh being a bad team, even worse then Pakistan didn't hold Shakib back, now did it?

The example for the world and history books is there to see.

shakib.jpg

World Cup 2019, Bangladesh were bottom of the table, the pure definition of a bad team.

Shakib made a mark, household name in Bangladesh, this is what he's done, at the biggest event which comes after every four years.

I didn't even mention this Shakib example in my original post, now adding Shakib's example to my original post and also keeping in mind all the other example in the original post, do you understand where I'm coming from?

You can make your mark in a bad team, you can have an aura to you while playing for a bad team, you can be part of the history books in a bad team, you can play legendary...consistent innings for a bad team, Shakib's a prime example of that.

You had the chance to do it all against India in 2019, got Pakistan off to a blazing start, two runs away from a half-century, and you get bowled!

Do something Babar, light the world on fire, do it consistently my friend, even if it's consistently over a period of an ICC Tournament.

You've been playing for 6 years now, it's about time.
 
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I haven't posted since creating the thread.

A lot of posters talking about how it is OK for Babar to play this way because at the end of the day he's not playing with/for a good team.

Let me ask you, does Bangladesh have a good team?

I already know your answer and I have a one name response....Shakib.

Just like all the example I gave in my original post, let me add to that.

Bangladesh being a bad team, even worse then Pakistan didn't hold Shakib back, now did it?

The example for the world and history books is there to see.

View attachment 106324

World Cup 2019, Bangladesh were bottom of the table, the pure definition of a bad team.

Shakib made a mark, household name in Bangladesh, this is what he's done, at the biggest event which comes after every four years.

I didn't even mention this Shakib example in my original post, now adding Shakib's example to my original post and also keeping in mind all the other example in the original post, do you understand where I'm coming from?

You can make your mark in a bad team, you can have an aura to you while playing for a bad team, you can be part of the history books in a bad team, you can play legendary...consistent innings for a bad team, Shakib's a prime example of that.

You had the chance to do it all against India in 2019, got Pakistan off to a blazing start, two runs away from a half-century, and you get bowled!

Do something Babar, light the world on fire, do it consistently my friend, even if it's consistently over a period of an ICC Tournament.

You've been playing for 6 years now, it's about time.

Great example.....

But you know.

It was Shakib-Ul-Hasan's 4th world cup and he was in his prime as a batsman.

His performances for the previous world cups were

2007 WC Avg. 28
2011 WC Avg. 23
2015 WC Avg. 39

On the other hand it was Babar Azam's first ever world cup tournament and in his first tournament he averaged 67.71 and he had fifth highest batting average in the tournament (minimum 100 runs).

Moreover, In his first world cup, he broke the record of highest number of runs in one tournament by a any Pakistani batsman and won his team a must win match against the finalist (almost winner) of the world cup against the same bowling lineup which destroyed much better Indian batting lineup in the similar conditions few days later.

Had he scored 1000 runs in the world cup, our fans (with the mentality of desi aunties/mother in laws) would have come up with this statement " what is the benefit of these useless runs, he couldn't win the world cup for his team".

Cricket is a team game. 90s Sachin was better batsman than Babar and even his team was much much superior to the current Pakistani team yet they didn't become competitive till they found some more good players like Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer etc.

Regarding his failure to win the match against India, it was very difficult target. Plus I would like to bash our past legends likes of Inzamam ul haq, Younis Khan and Saeed Anwar etc. who used to regularly choke against much inferior Indian side in the world cups and streak is still alive. It was much easier back then. Now this Indian team has become a giant.
 
Babar Azam is over rated only if someone comes with these childish statements.

"He's the best batsman in the world"

"Babar Azam 'in the current form' is better than Kohli"

"He has replaced Root or Williamson and now he's a part of fab 4"

Otherwise he is a very good batsman for our pathetic batting standards.

He will start winning the matches for his team once he finds some good partners, both in batting and bowling. After all, he (or anybody else) could do a Jack in Australia if opposition's score is 589/3 declared.
 
The time for Babar is now.

The fab 4 is ageing now and Babar is in prime.

The next 4 year will define Babar.
 
Babar has the highest batting average in the WTC.

He's been a solid batsman for a good few years now. I'm not sure where this "He's young yet and will come good" nonesense is coming from
 
I think Babars reputation could have taken a dent in England and New Zealand had he not got injured. He managed to come out of the series with his reputation intact while others suffered. He has a chance to really cash in no in the home series and build a profile.

lmao, Who suffered? We lost the series because of our bowling. A lot of our batsmen performed better than expectations. Do your research man
 
lmao, Who suffered? We lost the series because of our bowling. A lot of our batsmen performed better than expectations. Do your research man

what expectations did you have that you are happy that while the opposition batting cashed in and scored 600/6 our batsmen lost by an innings. Do you really think that was solely down to the bowlers? I agree that the bowlers were shocking but still.

Our best batsman was our wicket keeper and then followed by Faheem Ashraf the guys that are batting number 6 & 7. Was this the fault of bowlers also?

All the batsmen particularly Shan, Abid, Haris and Fawad ( minus his century he scored nothing else) were shockingly bad. Azhar just about clinged onto some dignity but again he scored less than the guys batting 6 or 7. Batting flopped completely and its likely that Babar could also have flopped ( of course).
Due to his injury he has emerged intact from a tough tour.
 
Babar vs Gill will be the battle for next 10 years IMO. Since India plays more tests, so by the time Babar gets to 8K test runs, Gill will also be 6K+ test runs.
 
Babar has the highest batting average in the WTC.

He's been a solid batsman for a good few years now. I'm not sure where this "He's young yet and will come good" nonesense is coming from

A test match top score of 143 is poor though. That's Asad Shafiq level.

If Azhar Ali has a triple century then Babar at least needs a daddy 200 before we can talk him up in tests.
 
Babar vs Gill will be the battle for next 10 years IMO. Since India plays more tests, so by the time Babar gets to 8K test runs, Gill will also be 6K+ test runs.

I dont think Babar is over rated at all, He is one of the best all format batsman in the world and nobody knows the future. Lets see what happens in the next 5 years.
 
A nice interview by Inzi with Babar Azam available on You tube. Respect for Babar the way he has stayed focused and achieved so much already at such young age.
 
I understand what OP is saying but i dont think babar is overrated, he just needs to continue to perform and score some big runs in test.

I think if he can score a century agaisnt india in a winning cause than a lot of people will give him more respect since that is the match with the most that test the nerves due to the rivarly
 
I dont think Babar is over rated at all, He is one of the best all format batsman in the world and nobody knows the future. Lets see what happens in the next 5 years.

He is brilliant but his legacy will be defined by his test exploits. We know he is an excellent LOI bat but not at the level of Kohli and de Villiers in that format. Hence, it's important for him to do great in tests and average 50+ which I am sure he will get to sooner.
 
He is brilliant but his legacy will be defined by his test exploits. We know he is an excellent LOI bat but not at the level of Kohli and de Villiers in that format. Hence, it's important for him to do great in tests and average 50+ which I am sure he will get to sooner.

Now that Pakistan is playing at home averaging 50 over time will not be a problem I cant see many teams stopping him averaging 50 plus in Pakistan. But like I said nobody knows the future lets see what the future brings. In the past Pakistan had players like Kamran Akmal who was averaging 57 or something at home in fact his career went downhill ever since Pakistan stopped playing at home.
 
what expectations did you have that you are happy that while the opposition batting cashed in and scored 600/6 our batsmen lost by an innings. Do you really think that was solely down to the bowlers? I agree that the bowlers were shocking but still.

Our best batsman was our wicket keeper and then followed by Faheem Ashraf the guys that are batting number 6 & 7. Was this the fault of bowlers also?

All the batsmen particularly Shan, Abid, Haris and Fawad ( minus his century he scored nothing else) were shockingly bad. Azhar just about clinged onto some dignity but again he scored less than the guys batting 6 or 7. Batting flopped completely and its likely that Babar could also have flopped ( of course).
Due to his injury, he has emerged intact from a tough tour.

Go and look at the scoreboards of the teams that visited New Zealand besides us and see their batting performances. We lost solely due to our batting. New Zealand has a deadly bowling attack at home. They bully every team that visits there. Batsmen were good enough, when there are 600 on the board it affects your batting even more. You are just mouthing off nonsense without any logic or fact behind it.
 
I'm creating this thread with the most respect and humble opinion, I welcome nothing more than to maybe gain some more knowledge and hear all of your opinions as well.

Kohli's 2012 Asia Cup inning vs Pakistan is historic, Ben Stoke's 2019 WC and Ashes finishes are flawless.

Hitman's inning vs Pakistan in the 2019 World Cup is historic.

Pant's 97 in 2021 at Sydney is special, Gill's 91 in 2021 at Gabba is a star in the making like innings, this is his debut series!

The mind blowing start to Labuschagne's career is written in the history books, you can argue Pandya's made a name for himself with multiple impressive/legendary innings.

What has Babar Azam done?

Yes, he's taken on Steyn, decent innings vs India in the 2017 Final and 2019 World Cup, but certainly nothing to write home and certainly non comparable to the above innings.

Something I do agree in his favor though is the 2019 World Cup game vs New Zealand, he's apparently also the #1 rated batsman in T20's.

I just don't see it in Babar Azam, I admit I don't watch many games Live! but I certainly try to keep an eye on the Cricket media and game scorecards.

The forum talks about Babar being a king, King's win several game for their countries alas Kohli for India, King's don't get bowled out on 48 against Kuldeep Yadav.

Again this is just my opinion, I feel Babar Azam is overrated.

I would like nothing more than to hopefully get some more knowledge which I may not be aware of on why Babar Azam is considered so highly?

What special/match winning/history/legandary innings has played more than once?

OK Zabardast Post, Tujhe Award dena chahiye. Is Post ke Liye.

Indian cricket ko praise karna bandh karo. Don’t understand the youtube pe sara Pakistani Ex Players ko koi aur kaam nahi, bus Indian team Ko praise karte raho. Have u guys ever seen any Great Indian Players praising Pakistani team, apart from few individuals from Indian side no one even care.

Hum bus Indian ke a$$ lickers bane hoi hain, Great for India and its team for being a v good team. But Pakistani players and some fans are overrated here, have some self respect.
 
Babar vs Gill will be the battle for next 10 years IMO. Since India plays more tests, so by the time Babar gets to 8K test runs, Gill will also be 6K+ test runs.

Diff generation.. there is not a single good quality batsmen in Babar’s generation..Babar is the best
 
I dont think Babar is over rated at all, He is one of the best all format batsman in the world and nobody knows the future. Lets see what happens in the next 5 years.

Where did he say Babar is overrated?
 
Babar Azam is a great player no doubt (so easy on the eye), but he cannot win matches on his own. Pak needs atleast 3 Babar Azam’s to actually even think about winning away tests. Till then there will be an asterisk on his performance as a player & captain.
 
If anything, Bobby is a little overrated in white ball cricket. He hasnt really shown the ability to impose himself on the opposition like a young kohli used to. He oozes class and makes runs but doesnt have that extra gear for flat pitches imo.

Tests will be his best format. Technically he is right up there and he plays the ball very late and has time against pace and spin. But he needs to be in a good mental space a lot more to score big daddy hundreds. If he can do that , he'll be an ATG test batsman. No doubt about it .
 
Go and look at the scoreboards of the teams that visited New Zealand besides us and see their batting performances. We lost solely due to our batting. New Zealand has a deadly bowling attack at home. They bully every team that visits there. Batsmen were good enough, when there are 600 on the board it affects your batting even more. You are just mouthing off nonsense without any logic or fact behind it.

I think we will have to agree to disagree. Azhar was the only recognised batsman to average over 40 ( keeper and faheem did too).

Anyway, my point was that due to his injury babars reputation wasn't affected by the tour. You yourself say that the kiwi attack is lethal and bullys sides so its likely he wouldn't;t have scored much.

If he had failed in NZ he would have been written off by many. Now he has some easier tours to solidify his reputation a bit.
 
Bobby is not overrated. He basically is fighting alone with zero support. If only PCT had two more decent batters.
 
Bobby can go to the next level if there's another batting super star in the team. The competition drives the best and it's not just among opponents. Like Kohli vs Rohit in LOIs, Sachin vs David in tests, Smith vs Warner, Bairsrow vs Butler etc. They can take the load off each other while building innings and also drive each other forward.
 
No way Babar can be said overrated, but he surely cannot be put in the fab 4 category right now.
You need to be impressed with what Babar has achieved with a mediocre team and management around. He shines like a beacon among them. I think he has to start utilising his form and skills authoritatively, so opposition teams see him as a threat. right now teams don’t see him that way.
Him missing entire tour of NZ was very unfortunate, could have enhanced his credentials even more

Also I don’t agree that he will have no competition once fab 4 decline, there are other talents around world already on another level.
 
Funny thing noted :
From 2016 to 2020 (5 years),

Babar Azam - 2045 runs from 53 innings @ 45.44, 5 hundreds, 15 fifties
Ravindra Jadeja - 1453 runs from 48 innings @ 45.40, 1 hundred and 14 fifties. In addition Jadeja has 161 wickets.@ 24.5 which is his primary duty.

Not meant as any negative remark on Babar. Kid is a genius and will end up becoming Pakistan's best batsman ever.
 
Not overrated but when I see fans saying he is better than Root,Smith, and Williamson in tests or ODIs, or even as an overall batter i shake my head.

He has lots to improve on. So far in tests , he hasn't scored many times under pressure. He has been playing test cricket for 5 years so you can't use this youngster excuse as well.
 
He will come good but Fab four are fab four for a reason. Same applies for QDk.
 
One innings and the knives are out. So predictable... our fans don't deserve Babar :facepalm

It's because he's the only decent batsman so there is a lot of expectancy for him to perform every time. It would be a lot healthier for him if Pakistan had a couple of other test class batsmen who could score centuries, would take a lot of pressure off Babar and he could be judged on what he produces rather than expected to dig Pakistan out of every hole.
 
He is incredibly talented but unfortunately appears to be a mental midget.

I can't remember any innings where he's stood out among his peers and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. All his good knocks come under little pressure or in ideal conditions.

His highest test score of just 143 suggests a man who has a block when it comes to remarkable feats.

He remains our best batsman but he isn't mentally strong enough to hold a candle to the Fab 4. As time goes on he'll likely be exposed as not captaincy material also.
 
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It's because he's the only decent batsman so there is a lot of expectancy for him to perform every time. It would be a lot healthier for him if Pakistan had a couple of other test class batsmen who could score centuries, would take a lot of pressure off Babar and he could be judged on what he produces rather than expected to dig Pakistan out of every hole.

Azhar, Fawad, Rizwan ?
 
Failures happen time to time. He will come back and score a century in the next innings or the next match, the bandwagoners will be back to claim credit and comparisons to fab 4
 
Another one of the threads that get bumped after every innings, it seems.
 
No point in judging anyone based on one inning each time. Babar has not done anything of note in the test format so far, but the best days for him are ahead of him.
 
Players go through bad patches, have their demons against a particular bowler or type bowling or conditions , just hope when babar goes through that inevitable bad patch he comes out of it and doesn't become our typical pakistani casualty where he can't come out of it and has a terminal regress and can't get back into the purple patch.
 
Maybe #4 is too low for him.

At #3 he will have less pressure and also play pace more where he is stronger.

#4 is for batsman who can handle top order collapses and play spin well. Babar has never shown that capability.
 
As I have mentioned earlier Babar azam is still no where close to the Fab 4. Babar is still yet to prove himself in tests.

Even in limited overs he is a classic example of stats overshadowing the real picture.

Firstly Babar bats with a single gear whether he is on 0 or 100. I remember a PSL knockout match where Karachi were chasing a score of 180+. Babar n denly batted for almost 15 overs with identical strike rates of around 120 - 130. Leaving big hitters like Ingram a mountain to score at the end n losing the match.

Secondly, Babar is yet to score a match winning 100 while chasing high scores in excess of 320 if not 350 like kohli has done several times. His 100 against zim was a great example where he failed to take his team across the winning line.

Agree Kohli enjoys the support of other good batsmen in the team but smith n root are delivering with lesser known batsmen in their teams.

Babar us still not even on par with labuchagne at the moment. He needs to score match winning or match saving scores. Else he will just be swelling his aggregates n averages against lesser teams or scores in losing causes against top teams. His stats are very misleading when measured against his performances.
 
As I have mentioned earlier Babar azam is still no where close to the Fab 4. Babar is still yet to prove himself in tests.

Even in limited overs he is a classic example of stats overshadowing the real picture.

Firstly Babar bats with a single gear whether he is on 0 or 100. I remember a PSL knockout match where Karachi were chasing a score of 180+. Babar n denly batted for almost 15 overs with identical strike rates of around 120 - 130. Leaving big hitters like Ingram a mountain to score at the end n losing the match.

Secondly, Babar is yet to score a match winning 100 while chasing high scores in excess of 320 if not 350 like kohli has done several times. His 100 against zim was a great example where he failed to take his team across the winning line.

Agree Kohli enjoys the support of other good batsmen in the team but smith n root are delivering with lesser known batsmen in their teams.

Babar us still not even on par with labuchagne at the moment. He needs to score match winning or match saving scores. Else he will just be swelling his aggregates n averages against lesser teams or scores in losing causes against top teams. His stats are very misleading when measured against his performances.

He’s better than the HTB Labuschagne
 
As I have mentioned earlier Babar azam is still no where close to the Fab 4. Babar is still yet to prove himself in tests.

Even in limited overs he is a classic example of stats overshadowing the real picture.

Firstly Babar bats with a single gear whether he is on 0 or 100. I remember a PSL knockout match where Karachi were chasing a score of 180+. Babar n denly batted for almost 15 overs with identical strike rates of around 120 - 130. Leaving big hitters like Ingram a mountain to score at the end n losing the match.

Secondly, Babar is yet to score a match winning 100 while chasing high scores in excess of 320 if not 350 like kohli has done several times. His 100 against zim was a great example where he failed to take his team across the winning line.

Agree Kohli enjoys the support of other good batsmen in the team but smith n root are delivering with lesser known batsmen in their teams.

Babar us still not even on par with labuchagne at the moment. He needs to score match winning or match saving scores. Else he will just be swelling his aggregates n averages against lesser teams or scores in losing causes against top teams. His stats are very misleading when measured against his performances.
No team has as weak Batting line up as Pakistan especially now when we do not even have one settled opener and Azhar is not in his peak anymore. So Babar has the least amount of support from his top batti g lineup. Today was just case of him not having played cricket for many months,and he was a bit rusty and he could have easily padded away that delivery if he was in his usual groove.
 
It's fair to point out that although his record is good, Babar lacks meaningful scores in tough circumstances and against good opposition.
 
Maybe #4 is too low for him.

At #3 he will have less pressure and also play pace more where he is stronger.

#4 is for batsman who can handle top order collapses and play spin well. Babar has never shown that capability.

Oh please don't start with these.

These made for order excuses is the beginning of a slippery slope as we've seen with other players.
 
His inning in the first and second tests against a very good England attack were very meanigful, not his fault bowlers could not win us the first test, andin the second test Pakistan were in a very trick position, thanks to Babar and rain we did not collapse. Its not always 100 that matters. He could have played faster in the second **** and got ro 100 as well but played for team.
 
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