Why is Babar Azam being judged on the toughest tour of Australia?

[English August]

If it's any consolation, even Dravid had a terrible tour of Aus in 1999-2000. What he did after that is truly remarkable. He went back to the nets and worked on his technique and approach including his mental approach to the game. He even sought out time with Steve Waugh to figure out how to handle pressure at this level.

He started bucket loads of runs, first in Indian domestic cricket and then in Test matches as well. Went back to Aus in 2003 and had a dream series -- including a match-winning double hundred at Adelaide.

Question is: does Babar have Dravid's dedication, determination and work ethic?

 

[abhayjj]

He is being judged because many pakistanis made tall claims of him being more talented than kohli and a potential ATG. These claims mostly backfire.

 

[Hasan123]

This is a country who has no clue in developing batsmen. Look at how the fans and comments in this section are overacting calling for him to be dropped after one bad series. You have no idea how well he played on that green surface vs NZ when so called ATG Younis,Misbah,Azhar, and Asad could barely put bat on ball. Babar was making batting look easy and playing on a different pitch to his team mates. This was done at the age of 22. So he clearly has the talent , ability,and technique. Young batsmen all go through rough patches were there technique and mental ability can be targeted, Babar obviously has to work on his weakness but it's vital the selection panel back him and give him another few series. Sending him back to our awful domestic cricket won't do anything in fact it could make him regress as a player. A county spell in England would be more of benefit as he will learning in a proper system, playing on better pitches, and facing better bowlers.

I would stick with Babar for a while yet, the talent is there. If Babar can iron out his weakness and is backed by the management we have a very good batsmen on our hands.

You guys need to relax a bit, if Kohli was Pakistani he would have been dropped forever after that series vs England in 2014.

 

[Junaids]

If it's any consolation, even Dravid had a terrible tour of Aus in 1999-2000. What he did after that is truly remarkable. He went back to the nets and worked on his technique and approach including his mental approach to the game. He even sought out time with Steve Waugh to figure out how to handle pressure at this level.

He started bucket loads of runs, first in Indian domestic cricket and then in Test matches as well. Went back to Aus in 2003 and had a dream series -- including a match-winning double hundred at Adelaide.

Question is: does Babar have Dravid's dedication, determination and work ethic?

Exactly.

Babar has a couple of really small technical flaws which Hazlewood exposed relentlessly. But overall in the Tests in New Zealand and Australia he was one of the better batsmen.

 

[AlphaFighter]

Nah. Babar is the future. Kohli didn't set the world on fire in his first 1-2 years either, it was only from 2012 onwards when he really started to blossom.

 

[coy0607]

I don't get this- if the tour was so tough then maybe he should've sat out. If you play for Pakistan, your performance should be judged based on those performances

Babar is still the top batting prospect in Pakistan and should continue to play in all 3 formats, but lets no make excuses for his horrific performance in Aus

 

[MMHS]

This is a country who has no clue in developing batsmen. Look at how the fans and comments in this section are overacting calling for him to be dropped after one bad series. You have no idea how well he played on that green surface vs NZ when so called ATG Younis,Misbah,Azhar, and Asad could barely put bat on ball. Babar was making batting look easy and playing on a different pitch to his team mates. This was done at the age of 22. So he clearly has the talent , ability,and technique. Young batsmen all go through rough patches were there technique and mental ability can be targeted, Babar obviously has to work on his weakness but it's vital the selection panel back him and give him another few series. Sending him back to our awful domestic cricket won't do anything in fact it could make him regress as a player. A county spell in England would be more of benefit as he will learning in a proper system, playing on better pitches, and facing better bowlers.

I would stick with Babar for a while yet, the talent is there. If Babar can iron out his weakness and is backed by the management we have a very good batsmen on our hands.

You guys need to relax a bit, if Kohli was Pakistani he would have been dropped forever after that series vs England in 2014.

He actually carried bat in that 90+ on that wicket; could have got another 50, but for that chase .

My hunch is, if Misbah remains Captain, he'll drop Babar & bring MoHa to bat at 3 against WI, BD & SRL

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Shouldn't be dropped. But he really needs to start moving his feet. Has been dismissed on the back foot too much. I don't have a problem with giving young players a long rope, but we should also look at output while he is batting. He seems to have regressed with every innings on this tour

He's a kid, we should give him some slack. Regressed is a hyperbolic word to use. The skill and talent are all there, and we saw it just a few months ago. After 5-6 innings to say he regressed vs. he is playing in one of the toughest, if not the toughest places in the world for a road team. He looked great against NZ as well.

I'm not saying your wrong and he hasn't looked good, including the poor foot movement, but I would imagine age and confidence are probably not the highest playing here.

When he does come back after a few tests where he has built the confidence and is a bit older, I would imagine a completely different player.

Criticize sure, but no need to go over the top.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Mickey is right, Babar is the right candidate for the number 3 position. We must be patient.

Agreed. Playing in Oceana so early on in ones career is quite the task. Most players fail early days against them.

Babar is a class player and will only get better with time.

 

[Hasan123]

He actually carried bat in that 90+ on that wicket; could have got another 50, but for that chase .

My hunch is, if Misbah remains Captain, he'll drop Babar & bring MoHa to bat at 3 against WI, BD & SRL

No Mickey won't allow it. I think Misbah will retire anyway. If Azhar is named captain he'll just go along with Arthur in this case.