What's new

[VIDEOS] Is Babar Azam the best all format batter in the world currently?

Babar Azam joins elusive list of T20I batters, equals Virat Kohli's record

Babar Azam completed 3000 runs in T20Is, becoming the fifth men's player and eighth overall to the milestone in the format, and also the joint-quickest to it alongside Virat Kohli.

The skipper became the first Pakistan batter to 3000 T20I runs during his half-century against England in the sixth T20I of the seven-match series. With Mohammad Rizwan rested for the match, the onus was on Azam to carry the Pakistan innings.

The skipper responded by donning the anchor role even as Pakistan lost a couple of early wickets in the Powerplay. Moving to 25 off 19 balls inside the first six overs, Azam completed his 29th score of fifty or more in the format.

Azam joins an elite list of T20I batters in the 3000-run club. India duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli head the run tally in men's T20Is with more than 3000 runs. Martin Guptill and Paul Stirling are the others in the club.

However, Azam recorded 3000 runs in 81 innings, equalling Virat Kohli's record in the format. Kohli and Azam are the only two batters to reach the milestone in less than 100 innings

In women's T20Is, Suzie Bates, Meg Lanning, and Stafanie Taylor have over 3000 runs. Overall, Babar is the eighth player to the landmark in T20Is.

The next Pakistan batter in the list is Mohammad Hafeez with 2514 runs followed by Bismah Maroof with 2388 runs. Shoaib Malik and Rizwan are the only others outside these three from Pakistan with more than 2000 T20I runs.

ICC
 
Hope we can see the best batter in all formats vs Wood for one last time. Babar looked like a grandma when he was up against Wood in 2 matches.
 
Yet another shut up call to some here.

A hundred here would have been amazing.
 
Thought he would step up tonight since wood isn't playing!
Though was playing too slowly for his fifty but made up for it in the end.
 
England making a mockery of his poorly paced innings. Babar was playing for a total of 160-170 which will not be sufficient every day.
 
Did he just play the most impactless and pointless innings in T20 history?

I don’t remember the last time an 80+ innings was rendered useless within 4 overs of the opposition innings. :)))
 
I love how Mamoon always comes out when Pakistan is losing or lost, and the minute, they win he is no where to be found, its good to see you Mamoon, would be nice if you have the same energy when the team performs as well
 
BABAR AZAM FIRST PAKISTANI TO REACH 3000 T20 international runs. Well done champion. And joint fastest man to make 3000 runs in 81 innings.

He is a world beater without a doubt. Amazing feat especially when ppl are saying he is off color
 
Did he just play the most impactless and pointless innings in T20 history?

I don’t remember the last time an 80+ innings was rendered useless within 4 overs of the opposition innings. :)))

Babar is basically a combination of Rahane and Iyer in T20s. Plays pace well like Rahane and maintains strike rate like Iyer but overall just a one dimensional batsman who has clear limitations when it comes to winning a high scoring game on his own.
 
Then watch a bit more cricket if you think otherwise. Look at the amount of dew.

Your excuses remind me of some Indian fans downplaying Pakistan's win over them in the wt20 and Asia cup. Grown ups simply don't uses excuses like this.

If that would have been the case then Baber and co. Should have kept in mind and batted with more urgency instead of saying 160 would be our target
 
Babar is basically a combination of Rahane and Iyer in T20s. Plays pace well like Rahane and maintains strike rate like Iyer but overall just a one dimensional batsman who has clear limitations when it comes to winning a high scoring game on his own.

The thing is at least Indians have embraced the modern batting culture long time ago and they have some good batting hitters to balance Kohli. With Pakistan we don't even accept the modern style. We still believe in 90s approach of keeping wickets in hand late overs attack approach.
 
Your excuses remind me of some Indian fans downplaying Pakistan's win over them in the wt20 and Asia cup. Grown ups simply don't uses excuses like this.

If that would have been the case then Baber and co. Should have kept in mind and batted with more urgency instead of saying 160 would be our target

Look at the average score at the ground. Not sure why you becoming personal. I can do the same. There is no denying he could have played better at a better strike rate the way salt is batting even 250 wouldn’t have been enough. You will be still complaining. Last game they won with a lesser score. The opposition also come to play too without Babar knock the game would have been over inside the power play.
 
Another useless innings by the so called best batter in all formats. Salt is probably worst Eng batter on this tour & currently he's batting at a S/R of 251.
 
Look at the average score at the ground. Not sure why you becoming personal. I can do the same. There is no denying he could have played better at a better strike rate the way salt is batting even 250 wouldn’t have been enough. You will be still complaining. Last game they won with a lesser score. The opposition also come to play too without Babar knock the game would have been over inside the power play.

These haters try to downplay Babar every time and eat their words in every other game. They have zero cricketing sense. Can't even see how pitch is behaving. Most of them like Mamoon are drooling over an overrated indian team. I feel pity for them TBH, while Babar Azam is proving to be GOAT in T20is.
 
Look at the average score at the ground. Not sure why you becoming personal. I can do the same. There is no denying he could have played better at a better strike rate the way salt is batting even 250 wouldn’t have been enough. You will be still complaining. Last game they won with a lesser score. The opposition also come to play too without Babar knock the game would have been over inside the power play.

Look. What you are saying if a captain loses toss he should declare he lost the game. Did you at any time saw Pak playing with anything in mind about the dew factor? That's my question for you.
 
It's amazing how stats loving cheerleaders always come out to defend their players irrespective of that performance helping team or not.
 
Look. What you are saying if a captain loses toss he should declare he lost the game. Did you at any time saw Pak playing with anything in mind about the dew factor? That's my question for you.

You seem to forget to to reply to the message and carry on something else I will leave it at that. Babar should have known that salt was going to play an innings of a lifetime.
 
Another good innings today fom Babar

Its such a shame that other at 3-4-5-6 are refusing to put in a performance in
 
It's amazing how stats loving cheerleaders always come out to defend their players irrespective of that performance helping team or not.

It is also amazing that fans thinks 1 player should win them every game. The bottom line is Pakistan don’t have the batting talent. It’s not rocket science. We are not good enough but for some reason we should go after the 2 best bats in our team after every game we lose. There are other 9 players too what is their role?
 
It is also amazing that fans thinks 1 player should win them every game. The bottom line is Pakistan don’t have the batting talent. It’s not rocket science. We are not good enough but for some reason we should go after the 2 best bats in our team after every game we lose. There are other 9 players too what is their role?

Absolutely. They should start watching Singles tennis if they think cricket/football is an individual sport. Ronaldo was the 2nd highest goals scorer in PL last season while his team finished 6th. Does this make him any less of a footballer? Absolutely not.
 
Salah and Son were top scorers and their team won nothing too. This thread is of Babar Azam, the batter. Thank you.
 
Some of my fellow Indians fans during Asia Cup : we lost because of toss, it had nothing to do indian batsmen failing to post good enough totals.

Same indian fans here : babar played slowly, no mention of toss, pakistan missing shaheen, rizwan, rauf and poor bowling at all. :facepalm :inti
 
Absolutely. They should start watching Singles tennis if they think cricket/football is an individual sport. Ronaldo was the 2nd highest goals scorer in PL last season while his team finished 6th. Does this make him any less of a footballer? Absolutely not.

Pakistani fans watch cricket like politics if they don’t like a player no matter what he does they won’t like him ever. Let’s not forget some so called fans want him out of the team because he’s not good enough. I wouldn’t even use the word deluded here they take it to a whole new level.
 
Pakistani fans watch cricket like politics if they don’t like a player no matter what he does they won’t like him ever. Let’s not forget some so called fans want him out of the team because he’s not good enough. I wouldn’t even use the word deluded here they take it to a whole new level.

Yep, I think Saqlain and his example fits on them perfectly. They only serve their agendas and downplaying Babar is their currecnt agenda. Be it his runs, SR or captaincy. They utter nonsense all the time. Your analogy with politics isn't wrong too and glad to see some sensible cricket lovers on this thread.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Babar Azam's innings highlights

<div style="width: 100%; height: 0px; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.250%;"><iframe src="https://streamable.com/e/nwjr6u" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%" allowfullscreen style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute;"></iframe></div>
 
The first “zero gravity” innings in T20 history :)))

Glad to know that you’re alive. You were no where to be found the last two pakistan wins.

Anyways please do respond to my post in naseem shah thread.

Thanks.
 
Today's innings just makes it clear his lack of power game...until the 19th over he had a poor strike rate and it ended up costing the game
 
I love how Mamoon always comes out when Pakistan is losing or lost, and the minute, they win he is no where to be found, its good to see you Mamoon, would be nice if you have the same energy when the team performs as well

He is too shameless to even say a word here when Pakistan are winning.
 
It's hilarious to see that some clowns here are just waiting for him to fail or Pakistan to lose so that they can blame the loss on Babar. 🤣

Talk about being jobless.
 
Babar clearly wastes the PP with his approach, Rizwan has intent just fewer strokes at his disposal, hence why he gets up and running quicker, as shown in this series.

Babar only lets loose towards the end of the innings itself, meaning he’s intent on staying there throughout, even if there are bigger hitters to come - i.e Shadab.

It will make no difference for him to drop down a place, and have a left handed opener, who is more aggressive, have the chance to take advantage of field restrictions.

Also he is nowhere near the athlete Rizwan is, personified by his unwillingness to dive on tight runs and his fielding from mid-off.
 
It was a very good innings according to the situation of the match.
SR was very good, the acceleration was also good.

Equal fastest to 3000 runs also, and reached the milestone with a beautiful six.
 
It was a very good innings according to the situation of the match.
SR was very good, the acceleration was also good.

Equal fastest to 3000 runs also, and reached the milestone with a beautiful six.

No.

He played a selfish innings yet again. He should have instead gone for a 12 ball 25, and let the greatest middle order ever assembled take care of the rest of the innings.

And don't forget, he is playing with the fear of Mark Wood.
 
It was a very good innings according to the situation of the match.
SR was very good, the acceleration was also good.

Equal fastest to 3000 runs also, and reached the milestone with a beautiful six.

His 50 came in 41 balls, when Pakistan were only 3 down. It was a poorly paced innings - he was aiming for 160-170 which is why England made a mockery of the total.

He thought England batting would struggle for third match in a row. He forgot that not every team is mentally weak and mediocre like Pakistan.

If Kohli were to score his fifty in 41 balls with India 3 down only, your reaction would be completely different.

A zero impact, match-losing innings by Babar and it was not played according the match situation.

When you set a below par total in your ahead against a destructive team like England, it is going to backfire. Today England came down with a very aggressive mindset because they realized that playing cautious in the PP overs was not working with them.

Pakistan on the other hand does not learn. Babar and Rizwan have lost Pakistan plenty of games, including high profile ones like the WT20 semifinal and Asia Cup final with their conservative approach.

Negative tactics eventually leads to failure. Babar has continued with the same mindset that Misbah carried for years.
 
This excuse that Babar batted slow because the middle-order is not reliable does not fly.

No one wants or expects Babar to slog blindly. This is the same excuse that people used to defend Misbah’s 65 strike rate in ODI cricket.

You can play anchor in T20Is without scoring 50 in 41 balls. You can play the same role by scoring 65 in 41 balls, and if Babar cannot maintain a strike rate of 145-150 by playing anchor and playing orthodox cricket then there is no need of hyping him as the best batsman in the world.

Babar is just another Hashim Amla in white ball cricket. An accumulator who has great stats on paper but his presence is never a threat to the opposition. You can keep him one end and target the other batsmen and he will not hurt you.
 
Another useless innings by the so called best batter in all formats. Salt is probably worst Eng batter on this tour & currently he's batting at a S/R of 251.
So that means even Salt is better than Babar?
 
Another useless innings by the so called best batter in all formats. Salt is probably worst Eng batter on this tour & currently he's batting at a S/R of 251.

If Salt is the worst batesman on this tour why is he picked in the world cup squad or is he thier to eat &#55356;&#57171;
 
This excuse that Babar batted slow because the middle-order is not reliable does not fly.

No one wants or expects Babar to slog blindly. This is the same excuse that people used to defend Misbah’s 65 strike rate in ODI cricket.

You can play anchor in T20Is without scoring 50 in 41 balls. You can play the same role by scoring 65 in 41 balls, and if Babar cannot maintain a strike rate of 145-150 by playing anchor and playing orthodox cricket then there is no need of hyping him as the best batsman in the world.

Babar is just another Hashim Amla in white ball cricket. An accumulator who has great stats on paper but his presence is never a threat to the opposition. You can keep him one end and target the other batsmen and he will not hurt you.

Kohli also strike rate is 137.7 so thier is also no need to hype him aswell.
 
His 50 came in 41 balls, when Pakistan were only 3 down. It was a poorly paced innings - he was aiming for 160-170 which is why England made a mockery of the total.

He thought England batting would struggle for third match in a row. He forgot that not every team is mentally weak and mediocre like Pakistan.

If Kohli were to score his fifty in 41 balls with India 3 down only, your reaction would be completely different.

A zero impact, match-losing innings by Babar and it was not played according the match situation.

When you set a below par total in your ahead against a destructive team like England, it is going to backfire. Today England came down with a very aggressive mindset because they realized that playing cautious in the PP overs was not working with them.

Pakistan on the other hand does not learn. Babar and Rizwan have lost Pakistan plenty of games, including high profile ones like the WT20 semifinal and Asia Cup final with their conservative approach.

Negative tactics eventually leads to failure. Babar has continued with the same mindset that Misbah carried for years.

At least you agree that Kohli scores and will score 41 ball 50 in T20 format too. They are same kind of players, I agree.
 
This excuse that Babar batted slow because the middle-order is not reliable does not fly.

No one wants or expects Babar to slog blindly. This is the same excuse that people used to defend Misbah’s 65 strike rate in ODI cricket.

You can play anchor in T20Is without scoring 50 in 41 balls. You can play the same role by scoring 65 in 41 balls, and if Babar cannot maintain a strike rate of 145-150 by playing anchor and playing orthodox cricket then there is no need of hyping him as the best batsman in the world.

Babar is just another Hashim Amla in white ball cricket. An accumulator who has great stats on paper but his presence is never a threat to the opposition. You can keep him one end and target the other batsmen and he will not hurt you.

Babar's SR was 148 today. In case you didn't get a chance to check it :)
 
His 50 came in 41 balls, when Pakistan were only 3 down. It was a poorly paced innings - he was aiming for 160-170 which is why England made a mockery of the total.

He thought England batting would struggle for third match in a row. He forgot that not every team is mentally weak and mediocre like Pakistan.

If Kohli were to score his fifty in 41 balls with India 3 down only, your reaction would be completely different.

A zero impact, match-losing innings by Babar and it was not played according the match situation.

When you set a below par total in your ahead against a destructive team like England, it is going to backfire. Today England came down with a very aggressive mindset because they realized that playing cautious in the PP overs was not working with them.

Pakistan on the other hand does not learn. Babar and Rizwan have lost Pakistan plenty of games, including high profile ones like the WT20 semifinal and Asia Cup final with their conservative approach.

Negative tactics eventually leads to failure. Babar has continued with the same mindset that Misbah carried for years.

You can't blame Babar and Rizwan for the way they bat when not a single middle order, lower order player has performed big and shown the ability to last 12 overs atleast.
 
You can't blame Babar and Rizwan for the way they bat when not a single middle order, lower order player has performed big and shown the ability to last 12 overs atleast.

Chacha did

Chacha is decent

Nawaz should be our no.3 and he should be told that he can become our Shakib.

Shan and Haider are useless. I would much rather prefer Umar Akmal and Fakhar Zaman instead of them both
 
Babar's SR was 148 today. In case you didn't get a chance to check it :)

There is a difference between your ending strike rate and the pace of your innings. You can end with a good strike rate even if you pace the innings poorly.

A batsman can end up with a strike rate of 100 in ODIs by going from 50 in 80 balls to 100 in 100 balls.

It is a good strike rate to end up with but it is a poorly paced innings. Pacing your innings poorly means allowing bowlers to settle, impacting how the partnership grows, influencing the way your partner is playing etc.

Babar Azam’s batting in the first 15 overs today directly contributed to Pakistan scoring 20-25 runs less, and in hindsight that might not look a big deal today considering England seemed like they could chase anything today, but chasing 170 and chasing 190-200 can have a big psychological impact even for a team like England.
 
You can't blame Babar and Rizwan for the way they bat when not a single middle order, lower order player has performed big and shown the ability to last 12 overs atleast.

You certainly can. As I explained, no one is demanding them to slog. The criticism is that both of them can increase their strike rates by 10-15 runs without changing their playing style.

Babar’s 50 (41) can easily become 65 (41) and Rizwan’s 55 (49) in the Asia Cup final should have been 65 (49).

Similarly, Misbah’s 65 (100) in ODIs back in the end should have been 85 (100) and Pakistan could have won a lot more ODIs.

Both of them can and should continue to play anchor, but they need to up their tempo somewhat.
 
Kohli also strike rate is 137.7 so thier is also no need to hype him aswell.

At least you agree that Kohli scores and will score 41 ball 50 in T20 format too. They are same kind of players, I agree.

Kohli has played innings across formats that Babar cannot even dream of. He is better than any batsman Pakistan has ever produced, and Babar has some way to go before he can be considered as the best batsman Pakistan has ever produced.

Babar is a poor man’s Kohli at best.
 
Kohli has played innings across formats that Babar cannot even dream of. He is better than any batsman Pakistan has ever produced, and Babar has some way to go before he can be considered as the best batsman Pakistan has ever produced.

Babar is a poor man’s Kohli at best.

Still has a strike rate less than 140 like I said no need to hype him aswell.
 
Still has a strike rate less than 140 like I said no need to hype him aswell.

When you dominate two World T20s and play the type of innings he has played no one will have the need to hype you, your performance will hype you whatever your strike rate.

Babar fans can desperately try to force him in the same league but they are only embarrassing themselves. Kohli belongs to the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Sir Viv etc. Babar is nowhere near that league.
 
Last edited:
This excuse that Babar batted slow because the middle-order is not reliable does not fly.

No one wants or expects Babar to slog blindly. This is the same excuse that people used to defend Misbah’s 65 strike rate in ODI cricket.

You can play anchor in T20Is without scoring 50 in 41 balls. You can play the same role by scoring 65 in 41 balls, and if Babar cannot maintain a strike rate of 145-150 by playing anchor and playing orthodox cricket then there is no need of hyping him as the best batsman in the world.

This is actually a very good post. I agree with this
 
There is a difference between your ending strike rate and the pace of your innings. You can end with a good strike rate even if you pace the innings poorly.

A batsman can end up with a strike rate of 100 in ODIs by going from 50 in 80 balls to 100 in 100 balls.

It is a good strike rate to end up with but it is a poorly paced innings. Pacing your innings poorly means allowing bowlers to settle, impacting how the partnership grows, influencing the way your partner is playing etc.

Babar Azam’s batting in the first 15 overs today directly contributed to Pakistan scoring 20-25 runs less, and in hindsight that might not look a big deal today considering England seemed like they could chase anything today, but chasing 170 and chasing 190-200 can have a big psychological impact even for a team like England.

Chalen that makes sense and as you said, Eng would have chased any total today so it doesn't matter and Babar should be appreciated for the SR he ended up. I would have said he played slowly if it was late 120s or early 130s.
 
There is a difference between your ending strike rate and the pace of your innings. You can end with a good strike rate even if you pace the innings poorly.

A batsman can end up with a strike rate of 100 in ODIs by going from 50 in 80 balls to 100 in 100 balls.

It is a good strike rate to end up with but it is a poorly paced innings. Pacing your innings poorly means allowing bowlers to settle, impacting how the partnership grows, influencing the way your partner is playing etc.

Babar Azam’s batting in the first 15 overs today directly contributed to Pakistan scoring 20-25 runs less, and in hindsight that might not look a big deal today considering England seemed like they could chase anything today, but chasing 170 and chasing 190-200 can have a big psychological impact even for a team like England.

Chalen that makes sense and as you said, Eng would have chased any total today so it doesn't matter and Babar should be appreciated for the SR he ended up. I would have said he played slowly if it was late 120s or early 130s.
 
Pakistan need a Suryakumar type middle order batsman and a match finishing all rounder like Hardik Pandya. With inclusion of these two, they can become an invincible T20 team.

Rizwan
Fakhar
Babar(c)
SKY
Pandya(v/c)
Asif
Nawaz(floater)
Shadab
Shaheen
Naseem
Rauf

With this team, no other cricket nation can beat Pakistan in a 5 match T20 series. :inti
 
Reading people's excuses for Baber and Rizwan brings Misbah's days back. That guy used to get similar support for his 100 balls 65 runs. People used to say what Musbah can do when rest are so terrible. This is not a problem solving approach. It means we should embrace mediocrity. No need to think about future. Just play for losses with dignity instead of humiliation if Baber and Rizwan get out without playing in their trademark style.

Didn't liked Misbah's approach. Will never like Baber and Rizwan approach.
 
Reading people's excuses for Baber and Rizwan brings Misbah's days back. That guy used to get similar support for his 100 balls 65 runs. People used to say what Musbah can do when rest are so terrible. This is not a problem solving approach. It means we should embrace mediocrity. No need to think about future. Just play for losses with dignity instead of humiliation if Baber and Rizwan get out without playing in their trademark style.

Didn't liked Misbah's approach. Will never like Baber and Rizwan approach.

What excuses ? Babar and Rizwan are winning us plenty of matches.
They just chased down 200 three lathes ago.
The scoreline is 3-3 here versus England and our bowling, bar Rauf, has been pathetic.

Misbah was always on the loosing side, his SR was really bad and a lot lower than others.
 
When you dominate two World T20s and play the type of innings he has played no one will have the need to hype you, your performance will hype you whatever your strike rate.

Babar fans can desperately try to force him in the same league but they are only embarrassing themselves. Kohli belongs to the league of Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Sir Viv etc. Babar is nowhere near that league.

Your the one who stated maintaining strike rate of 140 whilst anchoring not me :)
 
Hope we can see the best batter in all formats vs Wood for one last time. Babar looked like a grandma when he was up against Wood in 2 matches.

Babar has scored all over the world against quickest of bowlers. It’s harder to pick bouncers in Pak than in Aus due to uneven pace and bounce. You can mark my words, Babar will not have a problem with short and quick bowling on true wickets. Can’t say that about the rest except Shan, Shadab and Rizwan.
 
Bottled the final with flying colors.

Dropped a dolly and a nothing innings.
 
He’s had one bad innings chill out. Even the best of the best have been out early
 
He’s had one bad innings chill out. Even the best of the best have been out early

You sure about one bad innings?
What was in Asia Cup & apart from his 100 in this series he has been rubbish. Don't get fooled by his 80 odd runs in the last match
 
Perfect definition of a mental midget. His entire body language today was "what the hell am I doing here? Why am I here? I don't want to be here?"
 
Back
Top