Why is Babar Azam not playing the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy?

[Mohammad Aizaz]

I’ve been wondering about this — why is Babar Azam not featuring in the opening round of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, when players like Mohammad Rizwan, Agha Salman, Sajid Khan, and Hasan Ali are all playing?


Since the end of the PSL back in May, Babar has only played 3 ODIs vs West Indies over a span of nearly 4.5 months. For a player of his stature, that’s a surprisingly low workload.

What makes it more surprising is that his last outing in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy was in 2019. That means fans and domestic followers haven’t seen him in this competition for three years now.

Other centrally contracted players like Rizwan continue to play domestic cricket regularly. Agha Salman is grinding in red-ball games, Sajid Khan and Hasan Ali are also taking part — so why not Babar?

 

[Major]

Ego.

He will go down the Mohammad Yousuf route if he keeps an ego like that.

Yousuf destroyed his career by doing this. After that record he had in 2006, he also decided to stop playing domestic cricket and played very little.

In their minds, these guys think they are very senior.

Good to see Rizwan is playing domestic. He even shows up for his club in Peshawar aswell

 

[Rana]

PCB instructed some players but he was not instructed

Don’t understand the logic behind this.

 

[Mohammad Aizaz]

Ego.

He will go down the Mohammad Yousuf route if he keeps an ego like that.

Yousuf destroyed his career by doing this. After that record he had in 2006, he also decided to stop playing domestic cricket and played very little.

In their minds, these guys think they are very senior.

Good to see Rizwan is playing domestic. He even shows up for his club in Peshawar aswell

Even if he achieves 50% of what Yousuf did for Pakistan, I would call it a redemption.

 

[Mohammad Aizaz]

PCB instructed some players but he was not instructed

Don’t understand the logic behind this.

Indeed. Gives us a feel that just one guy is being portrayed as bigger than the game. It only hurts the player in the longer run.

 

[ElRaja]

which player has been refined, or levelled up in the QeA trophy, im not arguing for the merit of getting game time, but the QeA Trophy is a substandard tournament, and it does not produce or prepare test cricket ready players.

 

[Rana]

which player has been refined, or levelled up in the QeA trophy, im not arguing for the merit of getting game time, but the QeA Trophy is a substandard tournament, and it does not produce or prepare test cricket ready players.

The point is to give respect to your premier FC red ball competition

 

[ElRaja]

The point is to give respect to your premier FC red ball competition

respect is earned, there is a lack of professionalism from the top to the bottom, why should a few levels in the middle be any different.

 

[Rana]

respect is earned, there is a lack of professionalism from the top to the bottom, why should a few levels in the middle be any different.

What?

So Pakistan cricketers shouldn’t respect their domestic red ball competition because of what issues exactly from top to bottom?

 

[shamaan]

Of Course Babar should be playing in Quaid E Azam Trophy

 

[ElRaja]

What?

So Pakistan cricketers shouldn’t respect their domestic red ball competition because of what issues exactly from top to bottom?

your missing my point. im saying when the organisation dont treat the tournament with the respect it deserves, chopping and changing it at their whims, then why would the players?

 

[Major]

which player has been refined, or levelled up in the QeA trophy, im not arguing for the merit of getting game time, but the QeA Trophy is a substandard tournament, and it does not produce or prepare test cricket ready players.

It helps you get used to the environment, face different kind of bowlers and make you adapt to different situations. Plus, as a senior player it makes you recognize different talents that exists in Pakistan who you can help as a senior player.

Malik, Misbah, and Younis developed their teams in the same domestic structure. Sialkot, SNGPL, Habib Bank and UBL were able to compete teams because Malik, Misbah and Younis were so involved with them that they were in charge of scouting players for their teams. These guys did not earn dressing room respect by their runs but by the leadership they showed and the push they made for others.

Misbahs batting was no where as beautiful, but same domestic refined him to be able to score runs. To be able to dominate against spinners while our top order struggled.

Recently in the Asia Cup, the only guy who knew how to bat on those low quality pitches was Sahibzada Farhan and thats because Farhan grind in the domestic circuit and in the club cricket circuit.

Babar cant play spin. He is struggling against all kinds of bowlers, his strike rate is not helping him at all.

No amount of net practice can teach a player how to play in a match environment

 

[hassan918]

He should be playing a certain number of games. Every player in the central contract should play a minimum number of first class games each season.

 

[Omer2002]

Quaid trophy hasnt even started so how do you know Rizwan and others are playing

 

[ElRaja]

It helps you get used to the environment, face different kind of bowlers and make you adapt to different situations. Plus, as a senior player it makes you recognize different talents that exists in Pakistan who you can help as a senior player.

Malik, Misbah, and Younis developed their teams in the same domestic structure. Sialkot, SNGPL, Habib Bank and UBL were able to compete teams because Malik, Misbah and Younis were so involved with them that they were in charge of scouting players for their teams. These guys did not earn dressing room respect by their runs but by the leadership they showed and the push they made for others.

Misbahs batting was no where as beautiful, but same domestic refined him to be able to score runs. To be able to dominate against spinners while our top order struggled.

Recently in the Asia Cup, the only guy who knew how to bat on those low quality pitches was Sahibzada Farhan and thats because Farhan grind in the domestic circuit and in the club cricket circuit.

Babar cant play spin. He is struggling against all kinds of bowlers, his strike rate is not helping him at all.

No amount of net practice can teach a player how to play in a match environment

your talking about a different era, misbah, malik and younis were all products of the old departmental system. once that system was abolished you simple couldnt reboot it and expect the same results. HBL, UBL, Sui Gas and PIA, etc were all either huge corporations, had player networtks that younger players wanted to leverage, or were tied to the government is some way. turning out for these teams brought u significant long term advantages in an era where league money and post playing career opportunities were limited.

top players now earn enough money in leagues for them not to be beholden to the long term employment of a department, why would rizzy, bobzy, shaheen be beholden to long term employment from WAPDA or State Bank when they accumulate enough money to live on during their playing careers.

your sahibzada farhan argument doesnt really work either, salman agha and hussain talat have as much, if not more domestic experience than farhan, but flopped on the same pitches, which by your argument, they should have thrived on. again, i dont disagree with ur premise, game time is good, but sub standard game time has the potential to make problems worse.

 

[Mohammad Aizaz]

your missing my point. im saying when the organisation dont treat the tournament with the respect it deserves, chopping and changing it at their whims, then why would the players?

A player should respect any form of cricket regardless of what the board does. Especially when the player hasn't scored an international century in 3 years.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Because Quaid-e-Azam Trophy hasn't started yet and Pakistan has a two match test series against South Africa starting next week

 

[Bewal Express]

All the players should have played this round.

 

[RyanRyan10]

your talking about a different era, misbah, malik and younis were all products of the old departmental system. once that system was abolished you simple couldnt reboot it and expect the same results. HBL, UBL, Sui Gas and PIA, etc were all either huge corporations, had player networtks that younger players wanted to leverage, or were tied to the government is some way. turning out for these teams brought u significant long term advantages in an era where league money and post playing career opportunities were limited.

top players now earn enough money in leagues for them not to be beholden to the long term employment of a department, why would rizzy, bobzy, shaheen be beholden to long term employment from WAPDA or State Bank when they accumulate enough money to live on during their playing careers.

your sahibzada farhan argument doesnt really work either, salman agha and hussain talat have as much, if not more domestic experience than farhan, but flopped on the same pitches, which by your argument, they should have thrived on. again, i dont disagree with ur premise, game time is good, but sub standard game time has the potential to make problems worse.

The departmental system should not have been scrapped

 

[ElRaja]

The departmental system should not have been scrapped

i disagree, in an era where the sport has been professionalised the departmental system was a relic of the semi pro era where players needed employment after their careers was done. what you should have had in its stead was a professional league system of white and red ball cricket, long seasons where players could have consistent employment. so the domestic calender should have run from september to april, 8 months with 2 to 3 first class, list A and t20 games a month, running concurrantly so red ball players get exposed to white ball, and vice versa. when international or PSL season came about the fringe players would get to play in the domestic competion and that would be a pathway. All good domestic players would have a minium of 8 months employment, plus the possibility to play leagues, etc.

 

[Major]

your talking about a different era, misbah, malik and younis were all products of the old departmental system. once that system was abolished you simple couldnt reboot it and expect the same results. HBL, UBL, Sui Gas and PIA, etc were all either huge corporations, had player networtks that younger players wanted to leverage, or were tied to the government is some way. turning out for these teams brought u significant long term advantages in an era where league money and post playing career opportunities were limited.

top players now earn enough money in leagues for them not to be beholden to the long term employment of a department, why would rizzy, bobzy, shaheen be beholden to long term employment from WAPDA or State Bank when they accumulate enough money to live on during their playing careers.

your sahibzada farhan argument doesnt really work either, salman agha and hussain talat have as much, if not more domestic experience than farhan, but flopped on the same pitches, which by your argument, they should have thrived on. again, i dont disagree with ur premise, game time is good, but sub standard game time has the potential to make problems worse.

Era doesnt matter as there is still a structure in place. Malik was influential in sialkot cricket and not for a department.

It wasnt about money or govt, it was about the passion for the sport. Misbah during his last year turned up for a grade 2 competation just to get faisalabad over the line and be given back its first class status.

You are looking at this from a different angle, what i am talking about is players influence plus how they could use this domestic structure to improve their own game.

Your agha and talat point is valid, but thats just down to some players being domestic bully

Thing is, babar azam is not going to improve his game by playing t20 franchise cricket, the only way is to improve is first class cricket and at preseent the option he has is QEA trophy

 

[mominsaigol]

Ego.

He will go down the Mohammad Yousuf route if he keeps an ego like that.

Yousuf destroyed his career by doing this. After that record he had in 2006, he also decided to stop playing domestic cricket and played very little.

In their minds, these guys think they are very senior.

Good to see Rizwan is playing domestic. He even shows up for his club in Peshawar aswell

I agree with you, Ego ruined both, id like to add the following as well

Yousaf was techincally superior to Babar Azam Technique wise but inferior reactions and talent wise.

Babar Azam on debut was by far the most talented individual for Pakistan in a long ling time but he wasn't techincally proficient.

He had freaky reactions was Pace and it was insane how scary good his reactions were vs pace, Seam and swing included.

Then after 2016 his technique improved. On debut vs Zimbabwe his stance was similar to KA and UA aka shaky at the crease and balance isn't good enough.

Afterwards his technique improved but the flaws vs Spin remained.

Natural raw reactions cam get you so far, to play High quality spin, you need technique + experience.

Babar isn't that old, Infact he's at the age where a player is suppose to be at his absolute best, Technique, Experience and reactions wise.

 

[Major]

I agree with you, Ego ruined both, id like to add the following as well

Yousaf was techincally superior to Babar Azam Technique wise but inferior reactions and talent wise.

Babar Azam on debut was by far the most talented individual for Pakistan in a long ling time but he wasn't techincally proficient.

He had freaky reactions was Pace and it was insane how scary good his reactions were vs pace, Seam and swing included.

Then after 2016 his technique improved. On debut vs Zimbabwe his stance was similar to KA and UA aka shaky at the crease and balance isn't good enough.

Afterwards his technique improved but the flaws vs Spin remained.

Natural raw reactions cam get you so far, to play High quality spin, you need technique + experience.

Babar isn't that old, Infact he's at the age where a player is suppose to be at his absolute best, Technique, Experience and reactions wise.

He had his flaws in the starting days.

I remember how he got scared of an aging Shaun Tait in his first PSL and Islamabad United decided to trade him away.

But he improved through domestic cricket. Now he has too big of an ego

 

[sweep_shot]

It is surprising that Babar didn't play there. Was he injured?

When a player loses form, it is always a good idea to go back to domestic cricket and get form back.

 

[BouncerGuy]

Babar really should have played some first class games before this upcoming series... Maybe just 1 game of QEA as he could have played only 1 but I think it would have been better than these camps and stuff..

 

[Ball Blazer]

Babar Azam will feature in the opening match of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for Lahore Whites against Islamabad at the KRL Stadium, Rawalpindi from tomorrow.

 

[mominsaigol]

Babar really should have played some first class games before this upcoming series... Maybe just 1 game of QEA as he could have played only 1 but I think it would have been better than these camps and stuff..

Tbf he is trying. He's featured in qea first game

 

[Varun]

which player has been refined, or levelled up in the QeA trophy, im not arguing for the merit of getting game time, but the QeA Trophy is a substandard tournament, and it does not produce or prepare test cricket ready players.

Beats sitting at home for a quarter of the year.

Ego.

He will go down the Mohammad Yousuf route if he keeps an ego like that.

Yousuf destroyed his career by doing this. After that record he had in 2006, he also decided to stop playing domestic cricket and played very little.

In their minds, these guys think they are very senior.

Good to see Rizwan is playing domestic. He even shows up for his club in Peshawar aswell

In India, Yuvraj was one such contemporary example. At least Yousuf made it big in test cricket - Yuvraj couldn't even do that.

 

[Farabi]

i disagree, in an era where the sport has been professionalised the departmental system was a relic of the semi pro era where players needed employment after their careers was done. what you should have had in its stead was a professional league system of white and red ball cricket, long seasons where players could have consistent employment. so the domestic calender should have run from september to april, 8 months with 2 to 3 first class, list A and t20 games a month, running concurrantly so red ball players get exposed to white ball, and vice versa. when international or PSL season came about the fringe players would get to play in the domestic competion and that would be a pathway. All good domestic players would have a minium of 8 months employment, plus the possibility to play leagues, etc.

I know it’s cool to make such statements but Pakistan’s first-class cricket isn’t as bad as people claim. It’s still the best place for players like Babar Azam to fine-tune their game under real pressure — not through throwdowns or tamasha T20 leagues.

@Major makes valid points.

You’ve got Saeed Anwar in your profile — a player who never skipped domestic cricket. Even in his era, people called FC “substandard,” yet he kept playing it. And yes, the usual deflection will come — “it was better back then.” No, it wasn’t. It was criticized back then too, and kept getting restructured for the same reasons.

It was okay then, and it’s okay now — but it remains the best system we have for developing real players. Agha Salman might’ve failed in the Asia Cup T20s, but he’s still a quality batter — a genuine product of our domestic setup.

Respect our FC — or watch our cricket perish.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

your missing my point. im saying when the organisation dont treat the tournament with the respect it deserves, chopping and changing it at their whims, then why would the players?

That maybe a larger point. But for Babar, it is somewhat important.

He has lost his original technique which made him a fairly good player.

Nobody plays ODIs anymore and PAK play very few Tests anyway.

He will not be able to find his rhythm until he bats time and naturally finds the best technical positions he used to get into.