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[VIDEOS/PICTURES] Will Babar Azam revolutionise the batting culture in Pakistan?

Sunny_majoka

Sunny_majoka

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yesterday i was reading some where on social media that our Pakistani under 16 team idealize babar azam.

i was so amused after reading that finally we have moved on from BOOM BOOM which certainly deteriorated our cricket in last two decade.

There is not single name who debuted in 2000s and became a batting hero for Pakistani youth and after we lost our last best batsman mohammad yousf in 2010.

There wasn't single batsman in the team who was our hero and we were surrounded with all reckless, undependable and irresponsible batters.
until babar azam debuted in 2015.

not taking away from our legends. but he is the man who will do what others couldn't do.he has all the ingredients to become a world class player and he is slowly mitigating the boom boom effect in Pakistan.

moreover leading by example he will bring more trustworthy and reliable batsmen for Pakistan and will revolutionize the batting culture in Pakistan.just like suchin brought kohli and other long list of batters in indian team who debuted in 2000s.
 
Let's hope so. What he did to steyn could be his boom boom moment.
Cant wait to see how he goes in the odis
 
Babar is a good player and perhaps our best currently.
But he has his issues with temperament and playing under pressure with impact which i hope he solves.But he is overly praised by the coach and captain and management and so i fear that they may not be focusing on his weaknesses as he is the bleak positive in a team of dissappointment.

And now with every young player idealizing him as was proven by the interviews of the U 16 team,i just hope all this doesnt go to his head,instead he focuses on eradicating his weaknesses.
 
Ahmed216 said:
how many against top opposition?
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how many matches he has played against top oppositions?
he only failed in last new Zealand tour.
apart from that he played well against all teams
and in new Zealand too on 2016 he scored well.
and truth is he is our best batsman in all formats no one is near to him ATM
 
Sunny_majoka said:
how many matches he has played against top oppositions?
he only failed in last new Zealand tour.
apart from that he played well against all teams
and in new Zealand too on 2016 he scored well.
and truth is he is our best batsman in all formats no one is near to him ATM
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he may be the best batting talent in Pak but is not a complete package yet. I dont know the stats but watching him play against top opposition especially in pressure situations so far hasnt given me any confidence.
I hope he gets better with time because only then he'll able to inspire youngsters in Pak.
he needs to score consistently on big ocassions to set the right example
 
Maybe but you have had decent batsmen before as well Miandad, Inzi, Yousuf, YK, Zaheer all were very good batsmen maybe not as good as the top Indian ones but still very good and if kids didn't get inspired to take up batting seeing these guys then Babar won't make much difference..

Its like a mindset when we used to play batting was considered a reward.. I can't tell you how many times the other team just ran after taking their batting and we had fist fights because we didnt get our batting.. I don't know how Pakistani kids view batting as but we used to view it as a reward and bowling and fielding were not so fun.
 
Babar azam looks timid somehow,and has yet to score big hundreds against good opposition.Still is the best bat in pak by far and will be a pak great by the time he's finished.Only batsman in pak side you can respect right now.
 
Not sure about him revolutionising Pakistan's batting, but if it's true the younger players idolise him, would be far better for Pakistan's future than looking to emulate Afridi. Babar is Pakistan's best current batsman, and probably the only one who is technically proficient in all areas. Mentality is another thing, but they don't have to copy that.
 
Overhyping him can be very detrimental to our cricket.
He has so far done nothing extraordinary to get so much hype. Has been mediocre In test so far.
Has been playing ODIs for 4 years now but never made us win any 'big' match. Has huge strike rotation issue,reminds me of Misbah ul haq. Always looks clueless in tough situations In big matches. Struggled in CT17, looked very poor in Asia cup and signs are he's not improving his batting and isn't a big match /tournament player. 4 years isn't a short period of time, if you are destined to become world class you do show glimpses in big matches every now and then but he's not done that. Never seems to dominate a bowling line up. Even Umar Akmal showed those glimpses but Babar so far has been a master of scoring small 100s against meek bowling attacks in UAE with strike rate of less than 100 which is really not good enough.

In modern day ODIs, batting has become so easy n top players have strike rates of over 95. While our 'world class' Babar has a a strike rate of 84 with one of the highest dot ball ratio in ODIs cricket and poor six hitting ability. His ODI batting is all about playing dot balls and hitting good looking 4s. If he doesn't improve on it quickly he won't be able to win any big matches for Pakistan and will be useless despite averaging 55 in ODIs with a strike rate of 87
 
I still think Saud Shakeel can surpass Babar if he's given all the hype, backing, encouragement and the notice that he will never be dropped no matter what he does in any format . I don't think any other player in our history got that much support which Babar is getting by the fans, management, , former players etc despite hardly won us any big match in 4 years. Saud has the ingredients. Though he also lacks much wanted six hitting ability just like Babar, which btw all our 'specialist' batsmen lack. But the biggest advantage Saud has over Babar is he knows how to rotate the strike along side his boundary hitting abilities. If you bat at no 3 in ODIs and you are a master of playing dots, then you are an oppositions' treat. Your 100s, 80s will please the opposition because you are robbing your team's chances of scoring big on flat tracks in first innings especially if your opening pair is Sharjeel and Fakhar. And in second innings your dot balls will put the entire batting line up under pressure no matter what Fakhar or Sharjeel does at the top, and team will crumble more often than not while chasing.
That's why I think Babar should be given a task to improve his strike rate as well as his strike rotation ability quickly and develop Saud Shakeel too for No 3 spot. He's the one who can win us Matches in ODIs as well as in test cricket if given proper attention, opportunities and the confidence
 
He hasn't shown any leadership chops like Afridi and Kohli or the ability to carry the team on his back and single handedly win matches. He is still young but has a long way to go before having kids start idolizing him.
 
Farhan93 said:
Overhyping him can be very detrimental to our cricket.
He has so far done nothing extraordinary to get so much hype. Has been mediocre In test so far.
Has been playing ODIs for 4 years now but never made us win any 'big' match. Has huge strike rotation issue,reminds me of Misbah ul haq. Always looks clueless in tough situations In big matches. Struggled in CT17, looked very poor in Asia cup and signs are he's not improving his batting and isn't a big match /tournament player. 4 years isn't a short period of time, if you are destined to become world class you do show glimpses in big matches every now and then but he's not done that. Never seems to dominate a bowling line up. Even Umar Akmal showed those glimpses but Babar so far has been a master of scoring small 100s against meek bowling attacks in UAE with strike rate of less than 100 which is really not good enough.

In modern day ODIs, batting has become so easy n top players have strike rates of over 95. While our 'world class' Babar has a a strike rate of 84 with one of the highest dot ball ratio in ODIs cricket and poor six hitting ability. His ODI batting is all about playing dot balls and hitting good looking 4s. If he doesn't improve on it quickly he won't be able to win any big matches for Pakistan and will be useless despite averaging 55 in ODIs with a strike rate of 87
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He is a bit soft for sure. He was quite disappointing in South Africa - this might sound harsh considering his consistency, but the fact is that in spite of being in very good form and adapting to the conditions and the bowlers well, he never capitalised. One 100+ knock from him in any innings could have altered the outcome, but his runs never materialised into anything substantial.

Babar needs to improve a lot as well as work on his personality if he is to become a superstar that kids would want to emulate.
 
Mamoon said:
He is a bit soft for sure. He was quite disappointing in South Africa - this might sound harsh considering his consistency, but the fact is that in spite of being in very good form and adapting to the conditions and the bowlers well, he never capitalised. One 100+ knock from him in any innings could have altered the outcome, but his runs never materialised into anything substantial.

Babar needs to improve a lot as well as work on his personality if he is to become a superstar that kids would want to emulate.
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lol. have you considered that majority of the time he was batting with the tail.
 
Babar scored runs in CT semi, final, deciding odi match against new Zealand, scored important runs against England in the test, Ireland. But, he scores soft runs. If you have actually watched against south Africa he got 3 pretty much unplayable deliveries. Though in the last game I do agree he could have made a century in the first innings.
 
He did well in SA . He is 24 but after 21 Tests still averages around 35 . That really is not miraculous . He has the game , if he can it do it for a decade , it will be fantastic .
 
Khan12 said:
Babar scored runs in CT semi, final, deciding odi match against new Zealand, scored important runs against England in the test, Ireland. But, he scores soft runs. If you have actually watched against south Africa he got 3 pretty much unplayable deliveries. Though in the last game I do agree he could have made a century in the first innings.
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The match was over when he came onto bat in the semifinal, and in the final, he rode on the momentum created by the Fakhar. Him and Hafeez would not have played those knocks if India wasn't on the back-foot.

If Bumrah wouldn't have bowled that no-ball and Babar would have been in the crease inside the first five overs, he would have played his customary defensive knock.

So far, he has been a bottler in ODIs, no point in denying that. However, there is no reason why he cannot improve. It will be a big shame if Pakistan's most gifted batsman since Yousuf turns about to another Amla (the ODI version).
 
Mamoon said:
The match was over when he came onto bat in the semifinal, and in the final, he rode on the momentum created by the Fakhar. Him and Hafeez would not have played those knocks if India wasn't on the back-foot.

If Bumrah wouldn't have bowled that no-ball and Babar would have been in the crease inside the first five overs, he would have played his customary defensive knock.

So far, he has been a bottler in ODIs, no point in denying that. However, there is no reason why he cannot improve. It will be a big shame if Pakistan's most gifted batsman since Yousuf turns about to another Amla (the ODI version).
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cricket is not played with if and buts, nice of you to deny the rest as expected.
 
Khan12 said:
lol. have you considered that majority of the time he was batting with the tail.
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That is true for a couple of innings only. He had enough opportunities to play game-defining knocks but he couldn't because of his temperament, and that is something he needs to work on.
 
Khan12 said:
cricket is not played with if and buts, nice of you to deny the rest as expected.
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Even if I give him the knock in the final, where he actually got out when it was time to play the big shots, he has failed under pressure a lot of times for it to not be a concerning issue.

This so typical of Pakistan - they get a good player and will go to any length to defend him and ignore his flaws, rather than pushing him forward to be the best he can be. Perhaps this is the reason why we don't produce world class players anymore, or why our best players are never able to sustain their performance for long.

Babar is very good, but he definitely needs to improve on many fronts.
 
Mamoon said:
Even if I give him the knock in the final, where he actually got out when it was time to play the big shots, he has failed under pressure a lot of times for it to not be a concerning issue.

This so typical of Pakistan - they get a good player and will go to any length to defend him and ignore his flaws, rather than pushing him forward to be the best he can be. Perhaps this is the reason why we don't produce world class players anymore, or why our best players are never able to sustain their performance for long.

Babar is very good, but he definitely needs to improve on many fronts.
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I want him to improve. Never did I say he doesn't have any flaws. But you calling him soft is not right too, he has played some meaningful knocks, but you will ignore them just to massage your ego.
 
Khan12 said:
I want him to improve. Never did I say he doesn't have any flaws. But you calling him soft is not right too, he has played some meaningful knocks, but you will ignore them just to massage your ego.
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Yes, calling him the best Pakistani batting talent since MoYo multiple times is "massing my ego".
 
No he wont in simple words. Best talent is recent time was Mohammed Yosuf and even he couldn't revolutionise Pakistan batting culture.
 
So far... He doesn't look like who can lead the batting unit. Too worried about his runs and not able to express himself fully.

I feel he needs to express himself more freely. His bat has lots of runs in it but many times he looked scared to play his shots for some reason.
 
He has to bat up the order. He cannot "revolutionize" by batting at no.6. He has to register big hundreds. But as i saw in a seperate thread conversion of start is an issue for every Pakistan cricketer not just him. Once he starts making hundreds then next goal will be big hundreds.
 
Mamoon said:
Even if I give him the knock in the final, where he actually got out when it was time to play the big shots, he has failed under pressure a lot of times for it to not be a concerning issue.

This so typical of Pakistan - they get a good player and will go to any length to defend him and ignore his flaws, rather than pushing him forward to be the best he can be. Perhaps this is the reason why we don't produce world class players anymore, or why our best players are never able to sustain their performance for long.

Babar is very good, but he definitely needs to improve on many fronts.
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You just hit the nail on the head there. And it's amusing when these same fans admire V. Kohli, his work ethics and all but stop well short of pushing their own 'good talent' to achieve those heights through extreme hard work which has been a feature of almost every 'great' of the game.
And only because of this blind backing Babar hasn't improved his game at all since his debut. He seems satisfied to me with his batting /performances and why wouldn't he be?Has already been declared the 'best' batsman in the country in all the formats by our experts and fans alike. While the reality Is his Test and FC numbers are very ordinary. The record of just 3 hundreds in 85 FC innings is far from inspiring. Still has alot of issues with ODI batting, and complacency he's showing I am not expecting any improvements in his game.
 
Wait for him to average 50+ in tests with 4-5 great big knocks in tough situations. That should get attention from everyone.
 
jnaveen1980 said:
He has to bat up the order. He cannot "revolutionize" by batting at no.6. He has to register big hundreds. But as i saw in a seperate thread conversion of start is an issue for every Pakistan cricketer not just him. Once he starts making hundreds then next goal will be big hundreds.
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He bats higher than 6 in domestic four day matches. Hasn't done anything remarkable there too. Has just 2 centuries in 48 or 49 domestic innings, hardly a sign of a batter who can "revolutionize" batting culture in a strong cricketing nation like Pakistan. It's just fans overhyping a 'good talent' who's struggled with the red ball cricket at International level as well as at domestic level
 
Mamoon said:
He is a bit soft for sure. He was quite disappointing in South Africa - this might sound harsh considering his consistency, but the fact is that in spite of being in very good form and adapting to the conditions and the bowlers well, he never capitalised. One 100+ knock from him in any innings could have altered the outcome, but his runs never materialised into anything substantial.

Babar needs to improve a lot as well as work on his personality if he is to become a superstar that kids would want to emulate.
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Agree. He played very well but needs to occupy the crease more in tests toget those big scores.
 
Buffet said:
Wait for him to average 50+ in tests with 4-5 great big knocks in tough situations. That should get attention from everyone.
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You are expecting a lot from someone who has even failed to dominate red ball cricket in domestic. It might be easy for someone like Usman Salahuddin or Haris Sohail or Fawad Alam to avg 50+ in tests as they have done it in domestic and maintained it for a long period of time but not for someone who avgs in mid 30s in FC.
 
Farhan93 said:
You are expecting a lot from someone who has even failed to dominate red ball cricket in domestic. It might be easy for someone like Usman Salahuddin or Haris Sohail or Fawad Alam to avg 50+ in tests as they have done it in domestic and maintained it for a long period of time but not for someone who avgs in mid 30s in FC.
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Some batsmen take time to mature in FC cricket.

Babar has figured out his game in the longer format now, the next step is to make hundreds.

Plenty of batsmen have been plucked out of FC cricket by national team selectors purely on the basis of their ability, despite poor numbers early on in their FC career. Joe Root is an example.
 
I would be careful of putting of putting the top domestic performers on a pedestal, history has examples of players who were domestic legends but international failures i.e. Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. Even Imran Farhat has been topping domestic charts for a long time.
 
Farhan93 said:
You are expecting a lot from someone who has even failed to dominate red ball cricket in domestic. It might be easy for someone like Usman Salahuddin or Haris Sohail or Fawad Alam to avg 50+ in tests as they have done it in domestic and maintained it for a long period of time but not for someone who avgs in mid 30s in FC.
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I expect him to average in mid 40s. I was simply stating what would get attention.
 
Good thread.

And someone mentioned Yousuf, Inzamam, Mindad?

How can 15 year old kids idealize them when they hardly saw them playing?

15 year olds are genuine and they don't look at 'cricinfo stats' to idealize someone.

Yes its true our under 16 team kids idealize Babar and there is nothing wrong in that.
 
People forgetting here that this is a team game and banging on about impact.
What u need to think about is what the scorecard will look like if Babar gets a few ducks in this upcoming series. The answer is not a pretty total. U can't say that for any other batsman. That's his impact!!
In terms of winning matching on his own he has a way to go, but he can carry the team to a point where the heavy lifting can be shared amongst the others to get us over the line. That does not mean he is not playing his role!
I think he plays the role we need him to very well.
We need him to expand that role and get better and better in time
 
Abdullah said:
People forgetting here that this is a team game and banging on about impact.
What u need to think about is what the scorecard will look like if Babar gets a few ducks in this upcoming series. The answer is not a pretty total. U can't say that for any other batsman. That's his impact!!
In terms of winning matching on his own he has a way to go, but he can carry the team to a point where the heavy lifting can be shared amongst the others to get us over the line. That does not mean he is not playing his role!
I think he plays the role we need him to very well.
We need him to expand that role and get better and better in time
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Good post.if we look at pre babar era.
We were unable to make 250 most of the time..
Its blessing we have got a batsman who plays at good strike rate and at an outstanding average.
Someone call him a bottler. But we have forgot that how we had lost matches in the past.
 
He won't revolutionise anything. Is our best batsmen at present but won't be an overall legend of the game. Not a match winner or game changer.
 
SarfiBabarHaris said:
Good thread.

And someone mentioned Yousuf, Inzamam, Mindad?

How can 15 year old kids idealize them when they hardly saw them playing?

15 year olds are genuine and they don't look at 'cricinfo stats' to idealize someone.

Yes its true our under 16 team kids idealize Babar and there is nothing wrong in that.
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With all due respect, I think you missed the point.
We are talking about the 15 16 year olds at the time off moyo and inzi wanted to emulate them, not just the 16 year olds now.
My guess is the youngsters back then looked up more to afridi between 1998 and 2011
 
This is all hype which is absolutely pointless. I mean it is not like this guy debuted at 16 and became the no. 1 test batsmen at 21 and was compared to Don Bradman at age of 24, that you are hyping him and talking about revolutionizing the batting culture.

He is doing good for his age but he hasn't set the stage fire or done anything exceptional yet.

Taking on Steyn is the first major memory we can have of Babar but this is nothing exceptional because he hasn't yet started to score hundreds on prolific level.

It will be great deal if he can reach the levels or become the Kane Williamson of Pakistan because that is what he should keep the benchmark to. But for that he still has a long way to.
 
He should first aim to become Joe R / Kane W of Pakistan, which he's capable of.

Then he should try to reach the level of Steve S.

Regarding Virat K, I am not sure he can reach it. But, no problem in trying. So, he should try for it.
 
Kohli said:
He should first aim to become Joe R / Kane W of Pakistan, which he's capable of.

Then he should try to reach the level of Steve S.

Regarding Virat K, I am not sure he can reach it. But, no problem in trying. So, he should try for it.
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In my opinion if he can be Steve Smith he can be Virat too as he is actually better in ODIs so far. Dont forget Smith has a better record than Virat in tests. Personally I think he can be at best Joe Root. Kane is actually almost same level of Virat and Smith its just that he doesnt play as much.
 
To be clear, when I say it would be good for Pakistani kids to emulate Babar, it is because he has a proper batting technique, whereas too many younger generation got caught up in the big hitting competition where Afridi became the role model.

I am not saying Babar is the finished article, clearly he is not, but I do agree with the OP that it would be far more healthy for kids to want to bat like Azam rather than BOOM BOOM.
 
Abdullah719 said:
Some batsmen take time to mature in FC cricket.

Babar has figured out his game in the longer format now, the next step is to make hundreds.

Plenty of batsmen have been plucked out of FC cricket by national team selectors purely on the basis of their ability, despite poor numbers early on in their FC career. Joe Root is an example.
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But Joe Root was an instant success in tests. He had an avg of 50 after 22 tests matches, 40 innings and he already had scored 5 centuries. Babar has played 21 tests and I don't want to mention his numbers, because those are embarrassing in comparison. The guy has only 3 centuries in 85 innings I really really don't understand the hype and blind support. He's clearly a struggler in red ball cricket.
I wish Usman Salahuddin or Saud Shakeel had got the same blind support from the fans and the management and we would have some solid test player in our hands.
 
No single batsman/bowler can revolutionize culture. It's a slow process. It's not like Pakistan is a new cricket team.
 
Savak said:
I would be careful of putting of putting the top domestic performers on a pedestal, history has examples of players who were domestic legends but international failures i.e. Graeme Hick, Mark Ramprakash. Even Imran Farhat has been topping domestic charts for a long time.
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And as always some fans come up with lines like these. 'Domestic performers are often International failures'. It has been proven wrong time and time again in Pakistan at least . Imran farhat wasn't really a 'top' domestic performer, same goes for Salman butt.
Players like Haris Sohail,Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Saud Shakeel and Saad Ali are in 'top' performers category . Haris performs brilliantly in domestic (50+avg) and already looks comfortable in test (averaging 40+ with 2 100s). Fawad Alam is a best FC batsman in our history (averaging 57), scored a 100 on his test debut but was dropped unfairly (averaging 40+). Usman Salahuddin has been a consistent run scorer in FC (avging 48) but never been given Babar like backing /encouragement from anyone . Saud and Saad aren't not only talented but also demonstrating their abilities by consistently performing in FC unlike Babar who's only talented but never performed in FC and we are seeing the same from him in International cricket .

How can anyone know before giving any performer a fair chance that he's just a domestic legend ? When the recent history is telling us that consistent FC performers succeed at test level.
 
Farhan93 said:
And as always some fans come up with lines like these. 'Domestic performers are often International failures'. It has been proven wrong time and time again in Pakistan at least . Imran farhat wasn't really a 'top' domestic performer, same goes for Salman butt.
Players like Haris Sohail,Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Saud Shakeel and Saad Ali are in 'top' performers category . Haris performs brilliantly in domestic (50+avg) and already looks comfortable in test (averaging 40+ with 2 100s). Fawad Alam is a best FC batsman in our history (averaging 57), scored a 100 on his test debut but was dropped unfairly (averaging 40+). Usman Salahuddin has been a consistent run scorer in FC (avging 48) but never been given Babar like backing /encouragement from anyone . Saud and Saad aren't not only talented but also demonstrating their abilities by consistently performing in FC unlike Babar who's only talented but never performed in FC and we are seeing the same from him in International cricket .

How can anyone know before giving any performer a fair chance that he's just a domestic legend ? When the recent history is telling us that consistent FC performers succeed at test level.
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I just hope fawad gets picked so we can see his hockey skills and people can close this chapter. I agree with the other names though.
 
Abdullah said:
People forgetting here that this is a team game and banging on about impact.
What u need to think about is what the scorecard will look like if Babar gets a few ducks in this upcoming series. The answer is not a pretty total. U can't say that for any other batsman. That's his impact!!
In terms of winning matching on his own he has a way to go, but he can carry the team to a point where the heavy lifting can be shared amongst the others to get us over the line. That does not mean he is not playing his role!
I think he plays the role we need him to very well.
We need him to expand that role and get better and better in time
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You are forgetting that ODI batting has become so easy in the past few years that now it's all about how quickly you score rather than how much you score (for yourself) . Babar getting ducks won't affect anything because it's not like Babar is holding our ODI batting line together or anything. In modern day ODIs everyone is scoring on flat tracks, and averaging in 40s n 50s. That's y strike rate and impactful innings have become more important and that's where Babar is failing.
His lack of ability to rotate the strike hurts us in ODIs. I don't think he's playing the no 3 role that well. Timid 80s n 100s r not good enough anymore especially on flat tracks. He should be asked to quickly improve his batting or slot Saud Shakeel in there.
 
If he does well, he will inspire younger players. But inspiration only takes you so far
 
Khan12 said:
I just hope fawad gets picked so we can see his hockey skills and people can close this chapter. I agree with the other names though.
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Yeah hoping the same for a long time . If those" hockey skills " provide us a test player having avg of 50 or more. I w love to see such skills for 5 days of test matches
 
I feel fans sensationalize players too much sometimes

Babar Azam is easily the best batsmen in the team, and everyone has high hopes of him. But he only averaged mid-30s in the SA test series, its not like he raked up 2-3 centuries.

He isn't Kohli, and you need a Kohli type cricketer to ''revolutionize'' batting in Pakistan
 
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] you are a bit harsh on him, he plyed well in CT final and against SA in CT. but I think he needs to do well in chases against top opposition. Remove Babar from this team and you will be losing most of t20 as well. His 50 in 2nd Odi against NZ was good, 92 in 3rd odi, 61 in shajah against Eng .
 
DRsohail said:
[MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] you are a bit harsh on him, he plyed well in CT final and against SA in CT. but I think he needs to do well in chases against top opposition. Remove Babar from this team and you will be losing most of t20 as well. His 50 in 2nd Odi against NZ was good, 92 in 3rd odi, 61 in shajah against Eng .
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I am not sure, he does have a lot of soft runs in odi's. He cant control the the opposition he plays, but its telling that in Australia his runs didnt matter as much as sharjeel khan's did. He usually kept pakistan in the game unlike babar.
Having said, with him opening in t20's and this tour of south africa where dominated steyn, there is hope that he will do more against the bigger team to win games
 
He sure will, Babar Azam is destined to be our greatest batsman of all time in all formats.
 
Farhan93 said:
But Joe Root was an instant success in tests. He had an avg of 50 after 22 tests matches, 40 innings and he already had scored 5 centuries. Babar has played 21 tests and I don't want to mention his numbers, because those are embarrassing in comparison. The guy has only 3 centuries in 85 innings I really really don't understand the hype and blind support. He's clearly a struggler in red ball cricket.
I wish Usman Salahuddin or Saud Shakeel had got the same blind support from the fans and the management and we would have some solid test player in our hands.
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An average of 35 after 21 Tests is not embarrassing by any means. Kane Williamson averaged 30 after 21 Tests. We have already established that Babar had a slow start to his Test career but he's done very well over the past year. He is up to #20 in the batting rankings which is the highest for any Pakistani batsman at the moment.

Farhan93 said:
And as always some fans come up with lines like these. 'Domestic performers are often International failures'. It has been proven wrong time and time again in Pakistan at least . Imran farhat wasn't really a 'top' domestic performer, same goes for Salman butt.
Players like Haris Sohail,Fawad Alam, Usman Salahuddin, Saud Shakeel and Saad Ali are in 'top' performers category . Haris performs brilliantly in domestic (50+avg) and already looks comfortable in test (averaging 40+ with 2 100s). Fawad Alam is a best FC batsman in our history (averaging 57), scored a 100 on his test debut but was dropped unfairly (averaging 40+). Usman Salahuddin has been a consistent run scorer in FC (avging 48) but never been given Babar like backing /encouragement from anyone . Saud and Saad aren't not only talented but also demonstrating their abilities by consistently performing in FC unlike Babar who's only talented but never performed in FC and we are seeing the same from him in International cricket

How can anyone know before giving any performer a fair chance that he's just a domestic legend ? When the recent history is telling us that consistent FC performers succeed at test level.
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Imran Farhat and Salman Butt certainly were among the top performers if we talk about opening batsmen.

That the likes of Usman, Saad etc. deserve backing in Tests is another matter and something you will find most people to be in agreement with.
 
Abdullah719 said:
An average of 35 after 21 Tests is not embarrassing by any means. Kane Williamson averaged 30 after 21 Tests. We have already established that Babar had a slow start to his Test career but he's done very well over the past year. He is up to #20 in the batting rankings which is the highest for any Pakistani batsman at the moment.

You mentioned root, so in comparison these numbers are nothing and one century in 40 innings ,3 in 85 FC innings shows a pattern which is worrisome and tells us we invested in him in a wrong way. We could have developed him in FC and included consistent FC runscorer like Usman in our test line up. That way we would have done alot better. As for Williamson he still had scored 4 centuries after 21 tests and his FC record was better. So sticking with him made sense for NZ and my point about FC performance remains valid.

Imran Farhat and Salman Butt certainly were among the top performers if we talk about opening batsmen.

That the likes of Usman, Saad etc. deserve backing in Tests is another matter and something you will find most people to be in agreement with.
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Imran Farhat used to perform like butt is performing currently. If such performances can be considered as 'top' performances then I won't argue more on that .

Most people only NOW agree Usman etc should be included in tests after 2 consecutive humiliations. Before the start of the series Usman was deemed as a boring,dull batsman who's not good enough .Even now people aren't promoting his and others' case with that much fervour . That's not exactly a 'backing'. Whenever Usman gets to play his second test he will be playing under pressure as so much nonsense has been said about him or even Fawad for that matter. That's my whole point Non performing Babar gets all the blind support and he knows he will never get dropped no matter what so there is hardly any pressure on but these real 'performers' always have to resume their careers under undue pressure. I don't think that's how great sides are built
 
Farhan93 said:
You are forgetting that ODI batting has become so easy in the past few years that now it's all about how quickly you score rather than how much you score (for yourself) . Babar getting ducks won't affect anything because it's not like Babar is holding our ODI batting line together or anything. In modern day ODIs everyone is scoring on flat tracks, and averaging in 40s n 50s. That's y strike rate and impactful innings have become more important and that's where Babar is failing.
His lack of ability to rotate the strike hurts us in ODIs. I don't think he's playing the no 3 role that well. Timid 80s n 100s r not good enough anymore especially on flat tracks. He should be asked to quickly improve his batting or slot Saud Shakeel in there.
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Respectfully disagree, not many teams have more than 2 players AVG 45 plus
Tell me how many England players AVG 45 plus. Just root, and every1 else around him bats free.
 
It is an improvement. It is better for a younger player to look up to Babar instead of an Ahmed Shezhad for instance.
 
He should be brought up the order so he can actually influence matches like he’s capable of.
 
Khan12 said:
I want him to improve. Never did I say he doesn't have any flaws. But you calling him soft is not right too, he has played some meaningful knocks, but you will ignore them just to massage your ego.
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No I agree with mamoon here. Babar Azam is quite a soft player in terms of personality and how he approaches his cricket. He needs to toughen up and have a strong vision in order to become a world class great batsman.
 
He is another incredibly overrated Pak batsman. Nothing more then average.
 
I mean Pak have had a fair few batsmen close to ATG status in the last 20-30 years so Babar doesn't need to be seen as this one of a kind role model. A problem i see is that when you have several trundlers in domestic cricket averaging low 20's, the pitches simply aren't designed to churn out batsmen with brilliant techniques. Obviously in a cricket crazy country of 200 million a few will be decent, but the current state of domestic will always favour the bowlers than the batsmen.

Then obviously there are the systemic problems in Pakistan in which we lag so far behind the top 4 or 5 sides that any young talent in Pakistan is up against it, whatever your chosen discipline is.
 
Babar is a role model. A controversy free, no nonsense guy that works on his game and improves year over year. Babar is what Kohli, Root, Smith and co were 2 to 3 years into international cricket. Kohli had Dhoni, Sachin. Williamson had McCullum, Root had Pietersen, Strauss etc to help them mould into the beasts they are. Who did/does Babar have? He could have been influenced by the Akmals which he didn't. Shahzad and Afridi were flashy and he could have gone their way, which he didn't. Instead he is trying to chart his own path and it's no coincidence that he's slowly getting onto another level under the father figure and his first real mentor Arthur.

It's easy to say they are soft runs or he's a minnow basher. One should complain if he doesn't score against minnows. Mickey has a role for him and that is to protect his wicket in the power play overs and be an anchor to the brittle batting order. He follows the instructions to the letter and lends a lot of solidarity to the line up. The slow SR at the beginning is not because of his inability to strike. It's to cut down on the risks to be able to play a long innings.

He knows he's the best batsman in the team and knows the records matter. There is a selfish streak in him that clamors for the tangible records like the 50s or 100s. Doesn't mean he doesn't care for the win. Just means that he knows the runs in the bank are important in Pakistan setup when his form deserts him. He's seen how UA was cast away.

So what's next for Babar? I'd say it's in the hands of Mickey Arthur. If Mickey wants Babar to be aggressive in the power play, Babar will. If Mickey wants his to bat at 4 in tests, he will. He's a coach's player and a team player. He had improved every year and this World cup will show how he is now a premier batsman in world cricket.
 
rhony said:
Babar is a role model. A controversy free, no nonsense guy that works on his game and improves year over year. Babar is what Kohli, Root, Smith and co were 2 to 3 years into international cricket. Kohli had Dhoni, Sachin. Williamson had McCullum, Root had Pietersen, Strauss etc to help them mould into the beasts they are. Who did/does Babar have? He could have been influenced by the Akmals which he didn't. Shahzad and Afridi were flashy and he could have gone their way, which he didn't. Instead he is trying to chart his own path and it's no coincidence that he's slowly getting onto another level under the father figure and his first real mentor Arthur.

It's easy to say they are soft runs or he's a minnow basher. One should complain if he doesn't score against minnows. Mickey has a role for him and that is to protect his wicket in the power play overs and be an anchor to the brittle batting order. He follows the instructions to the letter and lends a lot of solidarity to the line up. The slow SR at the beginning is not because of his inability to strike. It's to cut down on the risks to be able to play a long innings.

He knows he's the best batsman in the team and knows the records matter. There is a selfish streak in him that clamors for the tangible records like the 50s or 100s. Doesn't mean he doesn't care for the win. Just means that he knows the runs in the bank are important in Pakistan setup when his form deserts him. He's seen how UA was cast away.

So what's next for Babar? I'd say it's in the hands of Mickey Arthur. If Mickey wants Babar to be aggressive in the power play, Babar will. If Mickey wants his to bat at 4 in tests, he will. He's a coach's player and a team player. He had improved every year and this World cup will show how he is now a premier batsman in world cricket.
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POTW [MENTION=93712]MenInG[/MENTION]
 
rhony said:
Babar is a role model. A controversy free, no nonsense guy that works on his game and improves year over year. Babar is what Kohli, Root, Smith and co were 2 to 3 years into international cricket. Kohli had Dhoni, Sachin. Williamson had McCullum, Root had Pietersen, Strauss etc to help them mould into the beasts they are. Who did/does Babar have? He could have been influenced by the Akmals which he didn't. Shahzad and Afridi were flashy and he could have gone their way, which he didn't. Instead he is trying to chart his own path and it's no coincidence that he's slowly getting onto another level under the father figure and his first real mentor Arthur.

It's easy to say they are soft runs or he's a minnow basher. One should complain if he doesn't score against minnows. Mickey has a role for him and that is to protect his wicket in the power play overs and be an anchor to the brittle batting order. He follows the instructions to the letter and lends a lot of solidarity to the line up. The slow SR at the beginning is not because of his inability to strike. It's to cut down on the risks to be able to play a long innings.

He knows he's the best batsman in the team and knows the records matter. There is a selfish streak in him that clamors for the tangible records like the 50s or 100s. Doesn't mean he doesn't care for the win. Just means that he knows the runs in the bank are important in Pakistan setup when his form deserts him. He's seen how UA was cast away.

So what's next for Babar? I'd say it's in the hands of Mickey Arthur. If Mickey wants Babar to be aggressive in the power play, Babar will. If Mickey wants his to bat at 4 in tests, he will. He's a coach's player and a team player. He had improved every year and this World cup will show how he is now a premier batsman in world cricket.
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Very well described. All the naysayers should understand that its blessing we have a batsaman like him.

He doesn't have the luxury of playing with another established batsman or a role model.
His seniors are asad, azhar ,hafeez and malik who themselves have more to learn from Babar.
 
He is our first batsman in odis with 50 + average and 80+ strike rate. Our benchmark over the years is so low .

That He could easily relay on 70 + strike rate and 35+ average in odi and 25 + average With 115+ strike rate in t20s and could go on to become a legend for Pakistan.

But i am hopeful He will set a new benchmark in coming years in sha Allah and our next batters will look at him. Not at afridi, hafeez, malik or misbah.(with all due respect)

That's the reason i am sure he will revolutionize the batting culture in Pakistan.
 
Another valuable contribution today by Bobby. Keep it up.

Best Pakistani batsman on this tour followed Shan Maqsood.
 
MenInG said:
Should have got a hundred today.
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Babar seem to have a habit of giving it away doesn't he? Have noticed it far too many times . .

Take his innings in the test matches . . 2 times he was in the 70s and got out while the tailenders were supporting him . . Once he was batting on 49, and played a terrible shot . .
Today again . .

This is just from recent memory . .

I am always slightly more harsh on Babar because of the talent he possesses . . but if he continues to give it away like this, and not win games for his country on a consistent basis, then I fear he will go down the route of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzi rather than becoming the best Pakistan batsman ever which he has the talent to become . .

He is far and away the best batting talent we have seen come out of Pakistan in a long long time . . . I really hope he works on how to have that killer mindset . . when set, make it count and make the opposition fear you!
 
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