When Azhar Ali plays slow, it's a problem but when Babar Azam does it... Who cares?

[Statsman]

Quality innings. Had the useless Malik and Azhar and to a lesser extent, Rizwan and Hafeez done their bit, Pakistan would have chased this down.

Difficult to chase down such a big total when one batsman hits a 100 at under run a ball. You're expecting the rest of the team to bat at ~8.5 runs per over when all you needed was a 7.3 rpo.

 

[Bilal7]

Difficult to chase down such a big total when one batsman hits a 100 at under run a ball. You're expecting the rest of the team to bat at ~8.5 runs per over when all you needed was a 7.3 rpo.

Always difficult to chase down such a total but the best way to do that is to have one batsman going big and the others playing around him. Babar more than did the job of the batsman who goes big, Sharjeel and Umar helped him out but the rest of the batters did neither and that is why we lost.

 

[Chief Destroyer]

Azhar cannot play the knock Babar played today in 10 lifetimes. Yes, it wasn't perfect according to the situation but he soaked up a hell lot of pressure and was facing high quality bowling in conditions alien to him.

 

[Zohaib Shah]

Yes Azhar played so well today. Why are we so harsh on him? Its guys like Babar who score big with a slow strike rate are the problem. We should drop Babar to allow Azhar to concentrate on his batting. Since Barbar hogs all the attention away from him.

 

[aloo paratha]

100 off 109 chasing 350+ on a flat track isn't of much use to be honest. He made his 50 off 75 which pretty much killed the momentum and you got a feeling as a viewer that Pakistan is not even trying to win.

I'm afraid Azhar would have been criticised for such an innings.

Agree, the end result is a pretty one but had he gotten out before reaching his 50, he would've cost the team. A 50 off 75 balls is unacceptable on a flat pitch, that too while chasing 300+, he needs to accelerate earlier in his innings.

Please. That's not what I meant. There is a bit of unjustified agony against Azhar is all I'm saying.

You say anything remotely against their favorites, they'll completely change the argument.

 

[aloo paratha]

100 off 109 chasing 350+ on a flat track isn't of much use to be honest. He made his 50 off 75 which pretty much killed the momentum and you got a feeling as a viewer that Pakistan is not even trying to win.

I'm afraid Azhar would have been criticised for such an innings.

do you know what happen on first ball of match

we all know amir can swing the new ball away from left handed batsmen but our captain defensive put

only 2 slip fielder and which could have easy catch at third slip he drop a hard chance thats due to his

defensive captaincy

these are little things which is why people hate him his game awareness

His captaincy isn't good but this is the wrong example, almost every team I've seen starts with 2 slips in ODIs.

 

[aloo paratha]

Yes Azhar played so well today. Why are we so harsh on him? Its guys like Babar who score big with a slow strike rate are the problem. We should drop Babar to allow Azhar to concentrate on his batting. Since Barbar hogs all the attention away from him.

Maybe if you read, or could understand what was said, nobody wants Babar dropped, most people (including me) in this thread probably want Azhar to be dropped. It's a thread to highlight his slow starts to his innings which he's done every game in this series.

Maybe instead of acting so insecure, you just accept the fact that he starts slow. There is no 2 ways about it...

 

[saeedhk]

Good thread. Babar is incredibly slow at the beginning which takes away any momentum and steam the team has. A big flaw is that he plays in the same manner throughout the innings and fails to take into account the runs required and the required run rate. In today's cricket, 50 off 74 is as useless as 5 off 20 balls.

 

[90MPH]

I'm sorry but this is a ridiculous thread and a ridiculous comparison.

Azhar is not even close to Babar Azam in terms of ability, shot selection and composure.

However does that mean Babar is the finished article ?? Of course not, he's only 22 years old !

But he already has 4 100s, and averages over 50. When was the last time Pak had a batsman who did that well at one day cricket ? He averaged over 50 in the 5 matches, what did Azhar do ?

I really like Azhar as a Test bat but he's simply not a one day batsman. It's even more crazy that he's captain in a format that doesn't suit his style.

 

[Statsman]

Always difficult to chase down such a total but the best way to do that is to have one batsman going big and the others playing around him. Babar more than did the job of the batsman who goes big, Sharjeel and Umar helped him out but the rest of the batters did neither and that is why we lost.

Well Babar needs to understand that this is Pakistan and not Aus or England where you have the luxury of some solid chasers/ hitters in the middle order and you can bat at sub optimum SR.
This is Pakistan and if you ask your other batsmen to take the burden of hitting quick runs while you take your sweet time to settle down you're basically setting yourself and your team up for failure.

 

[aloo paratha]

So clearly, it was not a one off selfish innings like some said it was back in January. He really needs to sort this out, hope Mickey teaches him well.

Right now he is just sucking momentum out of or innings.

 

[idrizzy]

So clearly, it was not a one off selfish innings like some said it was back in January. He really needs to sort this out, hope Mickey teaches him well.

Right now he is just sucking momentum out of or innings.

Not necessarily. He let Fakhar play his natural game and he was attacking the spinners, while Babar just tried to stay in. Once Fakhar went out, his strike rate went from below 50, to 89 (where he got out). Again, he knew that Malik had to settle down so he showed some impetus. He's going fine, and will be better as he plays more big game tournaments.

 

[BabarAkmal_Fan]

People comparing Babar to Azhar/Shehzad in this thread...

 

[shahidbhai]

cant believe Azhar Ali and Babar are being used in the same sentence...

 

[Mujtaba2900]

Well it's Reality In 2017 Babar Was Just a good bat .Now He Is Our Best Batsman In every Format.
And He has Completely Changed his Game after Asia Cup.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

This is a joke. Babar has flaws but he still is a batsmen who consistently hits in the 85+ SR

 

[sweep_shot]

Azhar is one-dimensional. Babar has more shots.

Babar has been the most complete Pakistani batsman in a while.