What improvements should Babar Azam and Rizwan bring to improve their strike rate for modern T20?

DandyFellow

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Whilst keeping our emotions and biases aside, I want to make this thread to discuss how we can make statistically our current 2 best batters compete against the best batters of other teams. The issue is one and only strike rate. This thread is not related to their opening partnership or should they open together instead it is for them as individuals. I have seen many people saying that they are similar type of players. I disagree on this one. But one thing is true whatever they do their strike rates are similar.

So, let's discuss Babar Azam first. A technical player who thrives most in ODI format, is getting acquainted with Test cricket after early struggles and has always been a questionable T20 batsman. For Babar Azam to improve his T20 batting, he should watch Kohli's innings to understand why Kohli has 10 points more Strike Rate than him. Kohli hardly loses shape and slogs awkwardly. Babar Azam also does not want to do it but what Kohli does is that he often chips the ball for double and 4. Secondly, he hits sixes mainly on timing not on power. On this, Babar can also sit with Hafeez to understand how to time the ball sweeter and without overhitting and losing shape.

Coming to Rizwan now. He is not a technical player, and he has one special ability that makes him a candidate for T20 cricket. He himself did not know it for a lot of his career and has seemed to forget it again. The special ability is his fast bat swing due to fast arm speed. This provides him to play some unbelievable shots on the leg side, but he can easily do more on the offside. In T20 cricket technique is a bit overrated but still important in the sense that staying still in the crease can provide you more runs. What he needs to stop is to move alot and fall over. Just needs to stay still and keep his head straight in line of ball.

Next, he needs to use his quick arm speed to muscle balls. Offside balls on offside and with fast hands if it edges it will go over slips or keeper or it will fall far away from fielders in the ring. He might be 20% of a batsman what Butler is but he should improve his batting by watching Butler's batting and his quick arms usage to hit shots in the offside. If he becomes even 50% of, what Butler is he can be the best t20 Pakistani batsman ever. He has the ability, but someone needs to tell him his reason of success in 2021. Leg side hacking was not the reason for his success. So many players come and become leg side hacks but fail badly. There was some special ability in Rizwan that made him successful, and I feel he is forgetting it now again.

I would love to see everyone adding into the comments and discuss what they think about it.
 
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Babar can improve his power hitting.
Rizwan can't, he is leg side hack. Just good on subcontinent pitches.
 
They need to bat at 3 and 4.

Pakistan needs to adopt the following template in this format. Open with two aggressive players, have two consolidator type players at 3 and 4 who can play long innings and then have aggressive finishers at 5, 6 and 7.

This is pretty much what every team is looking to do. Pakistan is the only team in the world that starts on the back foot by opening with two consolidators who have no idea what an above par score would be.

If this was the right approach Pakistan would be dominating the format amidst all the chest puffing over these two’s averages and other teams would also be looking to adopt this strategy.

It is a tried and failed strategy that has achieved nothing except make two nothing T20 players like Babar and Rizwan look like Bradman on paper.
 
One goes for it much more where as the other anchors the innings. Babar needs to attack much more then he has been. This defensive mindset won't do any more or he moves aside letting Fakhar open the innings.
 
Move around your crease, come down the wicket, play a ramp shot etc.

Don't need to biff the ball like a Gayle, just do something different to put the bowlers off their line and length.

Don't let the bowlers keep dictating.
 
Pretty much nothing :) He is no Evan Lewis no QDK. He is more like Mahela Jayawardene who was an exquisite timer of the ball. Given his era Mahela's 133.18 strike rate was acceptable. Not a big six hitter either. Very fragile guy. More fragile than Babar.

A six every 33 ball
A four every 6.47 ball

Corresponding stat for Babar.

A six every 50 ball
A four every 7.28 ball

He just has to work on his boundary hitting. By any standards it is very poor. He is also no warner in terms of running betwen the wickets. Those tip and run is not exactly his cup of tea. He lacks some basic ingredients. He relies on picking the gaps. When those gaps are blocked he has pretty much nowhere to go.
 
Babar, Rizwan, team management and Rambo Raja need to swallow their pride, get rid of their delusion and realise that people can see through all the stat padding and social media Infographic propaganda.

It won’t wash any more.

Get over it.

These two should play in the middle order and let the real openers open.

If they still insist on opening, then Rizwan should take a break and work on his offside game. Babar needs to take a break and develop some release shots.

If they still insist on not taking a break and opening, they should both be dropped and babar sacked as captain.

If Rambo and co still want to insist on their zid that this is the right combination, then babar and rizwan need to look at the damn field. You have a powerplay - you do realise you can go over the top. Play some aerial shots, grab some guts, stop trying to play yourself in.

If they want to still continue with their pathetic approach then carry on with your mediocrity
 
The technical adjustments needed for them to improve their strike rates are beyond what we can discuss here. But...it may not even be neccessary if we manage to find reliable hitters to hit big around them.

If RizBab can average 50+ and score at 130 with some minor tweaks, i'd suggest keeping it that way and finding reliable hitters to complement them.

Remember Rizwan is a keeper and Babar is an all format player. We should be looking to groom t20 specialists to smash the ball rather than force major adjustments on our best two batsmen.
 
It won’t wash any more.

Get over it.

These two should play in the middle order and let the real openers open.

Who are the real openers? I'd argue we only have one in Fakhar. And his stats are horrid compared to RizBab if we look at the last few years. Even his strike rate is only marginally better.
 
Who are the real openers? I'd argue we only have one in Fakhar. And his stats are horrid compared to RizBab if we look at the last few years. Even his strike rate is only marginally better.

It’s not always about stats. Even in the handful of balls he faced the other day he looked more threatening than either of them.

Forget the stats man. This argument has run it’s course.
 
Babar, Rizwan, team management and Rambo Raja need to swallow their pride, get rid of their delusion and realise that people can see through all the stat padding and social media Infographic propaganda.

It won’t wash any more.

Get over it.

These two should play in the middle order and let the real openers open.

If they still insist on opening, then Rizwan should take a break and work on his offside game. Babar needs to take a break and develop some release shots.

If they still insist on not taking a break and opening, they should both be dropped and babar sacked as captain.

If Rambo and co still want to insist on their zid that this is the right combination, then babar and rizwan need to look at the damn field. You have a powerplay - you do realise you can go over the top. Play some aerial shots, grab some guts, stop trying to play yourself in.

If they want to still continue with their pathetic approach then carry on with your mediocrity

This

The cat is out of the bag
 
They need to bat at 3 and 4.

Pakistan needs to adopt the following template in this format. Open with two aggressive players, have two consolidator type players at 3 and 4 who can play long innings and then have aggressive finishers at 5, 6 and 7.

This is pretty much what every team is looking to do. Pakistan is the only team in the world that starts on the back foot by opening with two consolidators who have no idea what an above par score would be.

If this was the right approach Pakistan would be dominating the format amidst all the chest puffing over these two’s averages and other teams would also be looking to adopt this strategy.

It is a tried and failed strategy that has achieved nothing except make two nothing T20 players like Babar and Rizwan look like Bradman on paper.

Even consolidators have to be dynamic and have multiple gears like Kohli. Kohli can defend under pressure, rotate the strike to spearhead a recovery and then hit boundaries and sixes against all sorts of bowlers and every line, length bowled at him at the death.

Consolidators like Babar and Williamson are very limited in this regard, at best they can hold one end up and keep the strike rotating and guide the hitters at the other end, but Pakistan sadly has predictable, one dimensional hacks who cannot be relied enough to score consistently.
 
It’s not always about stats. Even in the handful of balls he faced the other day he looked more threatening than either of them.

Forget the stats man. This argument has run it’s course.

The people who say stats don't matter are the same who said experts don't matter during the Brexit debacle.

Stats matter a lot. If you dismiss them because they don't fit your narrative then you need to realise you have no argument.
 
Rizwan has to improve his offside stroke play, bowlers have figured him out and have successfully contained him by bowling full and just out side offstump.

Babar on the other hand is too reliant on playing classic cricketing shots early on, bowlers have now started to bowl tight to him, captains have plugged the gaps which means Babar plays too many dot balls early and puts himself under pressure. He needs to play attacking shots, even across the line shots and put the bowler under pressure and then the classic cricketing shots will come into play. Bowlers fear batters especially against whom they cannot predict what shot they will execute to what ball.
 
The people who say stats don't matter are the same who said experts don't matter during the Brexit debacle.

Stats matter a lot. If you dismiss them because they don't fit your narrative then you need to realise you have no argument.

Cricket is an amateur statistician’s wet dream. I’m not dismissing stats, but they are nothing without context, background knowledge and a solid hypothesis.

Cricket is also not played on paper.
 
Intent.

They need to have a more positive intent during the powerplay overs. That should fix the strike rate.

These two can hit well as they have demonstrated during their 203-run partnership against England.
 
Babar should open the batting with rizwan on Non striker end.. currently Rizwan is not in good form and he makes almost 0-4 runs in opening over.
When babar vomes to bat he feels the pressure of make quick runs in 2nd over.
It should be other way, Babar should be the most relaxed player and should play his game. Rizwan can be the hit and miss player.
 
I was a big fan of Rizwan the opener. The Asia Cup final innings created some doubt in my mind, but ultimately it was him playing a ****ing maiden over in the Tri series Vs NZ. I’ve never seen that before, and hopefully never will.

Despite that I’m still willing to try a proper aggressive opener on the other end. Opening is the easiest job batting wise in t20s. We could try various players there if the specialist openers who’ve opened for the majority of their careers don’t work out like Fakhar.

Rizwan, if he plays, will be far more of a liability at #4 than as opener. This is why if he play him, he has to open and we should’ve tried out a bunch of guys on the other end. Haider is actually an opener, but he is so shot of confidence currently that even a rank full toss will bowl him out 5/5 times these days. PCB mismanaged the hell out of his career.

Babar is a born #3, needs to man up and move down. Gambhir is usually filled with a lot of anti Pak vitriol, but he hit the nail on the head, same as Wasim Akram.
 
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They need to bat at 3 and 4.

Pakistan needs to adopt the following template in this format. Open with two aggressive players, have two consolidator type players at 3 and 4 who can play long innings and then have aggressive finishers at 5, 6 and 7.

This is pretty much what every team is looking to do. Pakistan is the only team in the world that starts on the back foot by opening with two consolidators who have no idea what an above par score would be.

If this was the right approach Pakistan would be dominating the format amidst all the chest puffing over these two’s averages and other teams would also be looking to adopt this strategy.

It is a tried and failed strategy that has achieved nothing except make two nothing T20 players like Babar and Rizwan look like Bradman on paper.

Which "aggressive players" do you think could open for us then?
 
Intent.

They need to have a more positive intent during the powerplay overs. That should fix the strike rate.

These two can hit well as they have demonstrated during their 203-run partnership against England.

The problem is that came on a flat wicket with low bounce against medium pace bowling on the same pitch extra bounce from Topley and Wood made a big difference.

In World Cups you don’t get this situation apart from minnows the more Babar and Rizwan open the more exposed they are in tournaments one performance against India in UAE is all they have to show for a dozen chances opening in tournaments.
 
Nothing at all.

People should get off their backs.
It's the supporters, social media and selfish pundits sitting at hkme that cost us progressing in this World Cup.
If this current tournament has proven this then nothing will.
 
Nothing at all.

People should get off their backs.
It's the supporters, social media and selfish pundits sitting at hkme that cost us progressing in this World Cup.
If this current tournament has proven this then nothing will.

Hain?

I thought Babar and co. Don’t listen to outside noise??
 
Hit the gym, develop a technique, grow some balls?..

More like,

-Buy a TV
-Subscribe to sports channels showing cricket around the world
-watch how the modern players are playing and approaching the game
 
Nothing at all.

People should get off their backs.
It's the supporters, social media and selfish pundits sitting at hkme that cost us progressing in this World Cup.
If this current tournament has proven this then nothing will.

It’s the supporters that cost us? Stats merchants please pull out my stats from this tournament please.
 
1. Learn to play the hard length vs pace.
2. Develop reverse sweep vs spin.
3. Run hard, try to find gaps more and keep training.

That should be enough.
 
Few things for them both:

1. Babar give up t20 captaincy
2. Both give up Opening slot
3. Babar drop to number 3
4. Rizwan drop to 4 or floater (only come in if 10 overs left, else keep sending hitters)
4. Babar add a few shots for more 360 degree play:
a) reverse sweep against spin
b) using feet against spin
c) hitting slower balls for six
d) ramp shots
e) hitting full length outside off balls through point
5. Rizwan should take time to work with batting coach on off-side game. He is too much dependent on scoring on leg side, so points for him:
a) off side game
b) improved strike rotation, drop and run, play to third man rather than play and misses outside off often, etc.
e) hitting pace bowlers straight for sixes, fours behind bowler
f) do not fear losing wicket, play without fear
 
Play the sweep and reverse sweep and the ramp shot (Babar)
Work on the offside (Rizwan)
 
Baber & Rizwan are still 2 best batsman in Pakistan's team but it seems there is sense of insecurity in their minds. They have got lot of name & fame in last 2-3 years and won many matches also but since T20 WC 2021 both of them have not added any value to the team and in fact their performance have deteriorated immensely and now they don't want to come out from their comfort zone and also not letting any other to establish at the top. As a senior most player they should be more compromising and should play at 3&4 and make way for 2 hard hitters
 
No team stacks so many accumulators at the top order in T20.

Both players make the team on merit, but Rizwan should bat middle/lower order considering Babar has meltdowns if he was to do so.

Inconsistent Fakhar should be the primary opener.
 
IMHO they are playing their A game in T20 and I think they cannot change it much.
This is how they play and they have demonstrated this consistently and scored lot of runs.

Yes, for teams sake one should come at 3 preferably Babar should be at 3.
 
Babar has all the shots for all conditions, it is about intent. Rizwan is a limited batsman.
 
Babar has all the shots for all conditions, it is about intent. Rizwan is a limited batsman.

Almost all the peerless dominating batsman has this inside out extra cover lofted shot. Sir Viv perfected it. Sign of arrogance and domination at the same time. I have not closely watched Babar enough so i don't if he plays that shot. Ultimate players have the ability to manipulate the field by toying with the field. Freshest one is Litton Das's innings. He played with the field brilliantly. Kohli is master of it. If you only play reactive shots you will have problem switching to extra gears.
 
It’s mental for both. Feel like a broken record here, but it’s true. I know they are capable of playing to up to an average SR of 137-140. I know it sounds marginal than where they are right now languishing near 129-130, but it will make all the difference in the world. And they can both do it.

Yes they have weaknesses to certain type of bowling. Spin for Babar and bounce for Rizwan. But it’s nowhere near as debilitating as it may seem.

Both of them need to be told that as long as you’re trying to approach the innings with an attacking mindset, which will be apparent in how they play, you won’t be dropped.

The kind of license England and Australia give their batsmen. Take the pressure off from playing for their place or Adidas sponsorship. Shame on Adi for saying that you’ll get $$ for 50s even at a losing cause. Pathetic.

You need an international class batting coach who is well versed on the psychological and mental side of batting at an elite level. M Yousuf is not going to cut it no matter how classy he looked as a batsman.

PCB need to understand that just because the player was a legendary batsman, doesn’t mean he will auto translate that into cricket.

PS: would still want Babar to drop to 3
 
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Shahid Afridi speaking in an interview:

"Babar takes time to build his innings and he needs a partner who has a strike rate of 140 plus since the powerplay is important and you have to make full use of it"


"So, strike rate matters a lot in T20 format, and after this PSL, we have players coming up who can build a solid partnership at the top of the order alongside Babar"
 
330 runs so far in PSL ( with a strike rate of more than 150. What else should he do that people stop criticizing him?

----------------------

Babar Azam speaking during the Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sualtans' post-match presentation:

“People are discussing strike rates quite a bit these days. I don’t take it personally, but it really depends on the situation. Some people assume that I should start hitting sixes as soon as I step onto the crease, but that’s not where my strength lies. I focus on my strengths and strive to enhance them every day. Whatever performance I deliver, I try to put it behind me, especially since we have back-to-back matches here. The most important thing is that I enjoy the game.”​
 
330 runs so far in PSL ( with a strike rate of more than 150. What else should he do that people stop criticizing him?

----------------------

Babar Azam speaking during the Peshawar Zalmi vs Multan Sualtans' post-match presentation:

“People are discussing strike rates quite a bit these days. I don’t take it personally, but it really depends on the situation. Some people assume that I should start hitting sixes as soon as I step onto the crease, but that’s not where my strength lies. I focus on my strengths and strive to enhance them every day. Whatever performance I deliver, I try to put it behind me, especially since we have back-to-back matches here. The most important thing is that I enjoy the game.”​
So he admits he isnt a six hitting player….then why do you insist on illegally occupying an opener’s spot in the powerplay???
 
all they need a positive intant and they will have to get it out of their minds that no one else can handle the team except them.
 
So he admits he isnt a six hitting player….then why do you insist on illegally occupying an opener’s spot in the powerplay???
To be fair, t20 requires six hitting in all areas. I always wanted babar as our no 3 in all formats, however opening is the place he can take the most time.

He admits he ain't a six hitter so I don't see how a position down the order would suit uim considering if he comes later, that position would require quicker acceleration in t20, plus theirs spin in later overs which isn't babar's strong suit.

Him opening along with fakhar in t20 wouldn't be that bad albeit I want him to play at no 3.
 
The answer is simple: Babar should bat in the middle and Rizwan should retire and choose another career path
Batting in the middle is not the solution here. Babar should be batting at 3 which he is doing and he succeeded at that number as well. Rizwan needs to work his game out. He has been poor at opening in recent times.
 
The king is doing king things! LOL. King Babar Azam with a strike rate of 60 against New Zealand's Z team in the 2nd T20I while chasing only 90.
 
They need to bat at 3 and 4.

Pakistan needs to adopt the following template in this format. Open with two aggressive players, have two consolidator type players at 3 and 4 who can play long innings and then have aggressive finishers at 5, 6 and 7.

This is pretty much what every team is looking to do. Pakistan is the only team in the world that starts on the back foot by opening with two consolidators who have no idea what an above par score would be.

If this was the right approach Pakistan would be dominating the format amidst all the chest puffing over these two’s averages and other teams would also be looking to adopt this strategy.

It is a tried and failed strategy that has achieved nothing except make two nothing T20 players like Babar and Rizwan look like Bradman on paper.
Just how fast the night changes…
 
Babar/Rizwan doesn’t work. Babar/Saim would work really well provided that Babar bats at the same tempo that he did in the PSL.

The problem is your one track mind. Nothing else.
You called them nothing players in your above post.

You didn't say anything about combination, You quote on quote said both of them WERE NOTHING PLAYERS.

Learn to read what you yourself have written. And I saw the way babar was playing yesterday and saim as well, yeah no thanks.
 
Babar/Rizwan doesn’t work. Babar/Saim would work really well provided that Babar bats at the same tempo that he did in the PSL.

The problem is your one track mind. Nothing else.
What are we supposed to do? Have a thousand tracks in our minds and never truly be able to settle on one route? And flip flop whenever it’s convenient?
 
Babar and Rizwan: 60 runs scored off 51 balls at a strike rate of 117

To put their efforts into perspective. New Zealand won with 10 balls to spare and with 7 wickets in hand.
 
Babar can improve.

RIZWAN is a clueless hack and a very limited batsman. He does not have the shots and an offside game against pace to improve his strike rate.

Need to get rid of RIZWAN in the T20 format.
 
somehow if we can get work for rizwan in drama serials hopefully will keep him out of pakistan cricket team
In the drama he'd finally be able to achieve his dream of hitting the fastest century lol
 
Now this is something they both should be looking to improve. Strike-rate has always been the main issue for these 2 batters.

MCg5yF9.png
 
Now this is something they both should be looking to improve. Strike-rate has always been the main issue for these 2 batters.

MCg5yF9.png
This is so funny, Indian posters don't want kohli in the team and want fresh blood.

Pakistani posters don't want fresh blood but only want babar and rizzu.

Why is our nation so backwards
 
This is so funny, Indian posters don't want kohli in the team and want fresh blood.

Pakistani posters don't want fresh blood but only want babar and rizzu.

Why is our nation so backwards
I don't think not having Kohli in your team is a smart move which is why fans aren't selectors. And Kohli is easily a better batter than both Babar and Rizwan in all formats (specifically t20is)
 
Rizwan needs to work on his offside game and add more release shots. He has very much reached his ceiling otherwise.
To expect him to become a 150SR would be silly.

Babar has a lot to add to his batting and mindset if he wants to become a clutch player in t20is and ODIs.
Working on adding more muscle gradually and working out a method to generate more torque from his pelvis for his shots would increase his range a lot.
He has an element of selfishness (which is why he shouldn't have been given captaincy again) and he needs to let it go. Maybe he'll listen to Kohli's advice only.
I doubt he would understand that. He does seem to be a little stubborn in his methods.
 
Babar Azam has still got time to up his game & add gears to his game.

I think it's too late for Riz & after this upcoming T20WC, he should be looked to moved on from the T20 side.
 
That is not a high bar. Being better than Babar is an achievement?
You literally missed the point. The poster was saying Indian fans want Kohli out of t20i team on a thread about Babar and Rizwan. My reply was based on that, not really on who to compare Kohli with.
 
You literally missed the point. The poster was saying Indian fans want Kohli out of t20i team on a thread about Babar and Rizwan. My reply was based on that, not really on who to compare Kohli with.
yes I want him out of the T20 forever. He is one of the most easily containable player.
 
The only improvement that they should bring was to change their bat and get a new bat that is known for aggressive hitting. I mean, What?

svBZcUJ.png
 
Abhishek worked with yuvi for 3 months and became a six hitter ( almost 300 strike rate even if its ipl ).Why don't want they want to learn?may be they thoroughly believed in the pak batters mediocrity that they will remain the best for next few years too.Even kl doesn't wants to improve even under Langer.They don't have any willingness to sacrifice their statpadding and selfishness.
 
Thank you my Indian cricket brothers. Keep making the noise on our behalf. A lot of our Pakistan fans do not want to wake up just like Babar, Kl and Rizwan
 
Babar should bat at no.6 and Riswan at no.9. Alternative positions which they are both very good at, would make their fans happy to. God bless.
 
Thank you my Indian cricket brothers. Keep making the noise on our behalf. A lot of our Pakistan fans do not want to wake up just like Babar, Kl and Rizwan
Ya I get along more with Indian posters here then pakiatani ones. It's weird how they want our cricket to improve more then pur posters do 😂😂.

For them it's babar love over Pakistan cricket. Aka embrace the mediocrity.
 
Rizwan needs to work on his offside game and add more release shots. He has very much reached his ceiling otherwise.
To expect him to become a 150SR would be silly.

Babar has a lot to add to his batting and mindset if he wants to become a clutch player in t20is and ODIs.
Working on adding more muscle gradually and working out a method to generate more torque from his pelvis for his shots would increase his range a lot.
He has an element of selfishness (which is why he shouldn't have been given captaincy again) and he needs to let it go. Maybe he'll listen to Kohli's advice only.
I doubt he would understand that. He does seem to be a little stubborn in his methods.
Tbf you don't need muscle to clear the rope. Alot of cricketers who are natural six hitters aren't that muscle heavy, a good example being Ricky pointing.

Ricky was extremely aggressive for his era, these 150 monster scores were seen insane for that time period. In fact Ricky went with the mindset of First thought is to hit a 6, then 4, then 3, then 2 and then 1.

But he wasn't muscular, it was pure timing with that guy.
 
In fact Ricky went with the mindset of First thought is to hit a 6, then 4, then 3, then 2 and then 1.
As Ian chappel said aus will embrace loss in search of a win .Therefore Ponting,Gilchrist, head etc may think to score runs as much as possible to stamp out the opposition. Sc teams mindset is completely opposite and stat padders reaks the profit out of it.
 
As Ian chappel said aus will embrace loss in search of a win .Therefore Ponting,Gilchrist, head etc may think to score runs as much as possible to stamp out the opposition. Sc teams mindset is completely opposite and stat padders reaks the profit out of it.
Australia doesn't give up that's why.

The game against Afghanistan almost every team would have given up lol. It was more then just maxwell innings. People don't give credit to what Cummings did that day
 
Australia doesn't give up that's why.

The game against Afghanistan almost every team would have given up lol. It was more then just maxwell innings. People don't give credit to what Cummings did that day
Even cummins innings in sf was a high quality one under pressure
 
Babar can't improve his game. He is not good enough for T20s. He should not even play t20s.He can't even hit sixes.

On the other hand rizwan although limited batsman with limited talent but he can whack the ball but he plays for himself he doesn't care about the team.

Rizwan can certainly improve in this area by showing more intent. His off side game non-existent but he plays on the leg side he can be useful if he tries more but he is selfish guy and I don't see him improving a bit
 
Tbf you don't need muscle to clear the rope. Alot of cricketers who are natural six hitters aren't that muscle heavy, a good example being Ricky pointing.

Ricky was extremely aggressive for his era, these 150 monster scores were seen insane for that time period. In fact Ricky went with the mindset of First thought is to hit a 6, then 4, then 3, then 2 and then 1.

But he wasn't muscular, it was pure timing with that guy.
There are anomalies everywhere. Imran Nazir and Hasan Ali are thin as brooms yet can still clear the ropes relatively easier than others. Obviously the bat speed matters but not everyone has insane batspeed. Those who don't have it, need powerful swings apart from timing or to be generating good weight transfer from their axial skeleton. Hip and back muscles play a big role in that.
 
There are anomalies everywhere. Imran Nazir and Hasan Ali are thin as brooms yet can still clear the ropes relatively easier than others. Obviously the bat speed matters but not everyone has insane batspeed. Those who don't have it, need powerful swings apart from timing or to be generating good weight transfer from their axial skeleton. Hip and back muscles play a big role in that.
Well babar's dad bod ain't gonna help him. Tbf he seems to have controlled his weight since 2023 wc atleast. He hasn't gained but his weight from 2023 wc was embrassing.
 
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