Will Pakistan become a batting powerhouse under Babar Azam?

[Nikhil_cric]

Pakistan have always been the land of great fast bowling talents. "Shake a tree in Pakistan and quality fast bowlers drop down like leaves" as the saying goes. And while that continues to be true with the likes of Naseem, Shaheen, one gets the feeling that the batting has improved by leaps and bounds since the emergence of Babar. All of a sudden , Pakistan has probably the best wk/batsman in the world and an astounding talent in Haider. Has Babar revolutionised batting in Pakistan and are we at the cusp of a golden era of Pakistan as a batting powerhouse? Discuss.

 

[Markhor]

Babar is a good role model, but we've had plenty of good batting role models in the past and it hasn't changed the mediocre batting culture in Pakistan.

Many young Pakistani batsmen have started their careers with a bang, only to fade once opponents analysed their weaknesses. Selectors lost faith and these youngsters got lost in the system, and either couldn't improve because of an inadequate domestic system where the quality of technical coaching is substandard, or wouldn't improve because of poor work ethics and attitude.

Whilst it's fashionable to criticise Shan Masood, who yes is a limited talent and comes from a well off background - the guy after being dropped paid out of his own pocket to move to England, work with a top consultant in Gary Palmer and completely rebuilt his technique. He sought out everyone from cricket bloggers to data analysts and sought their advice. And his numbers post-comeback are very good.

Meanwhile the likes of Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood made plenty of money in international cricket to do something similar but couldn't even keep themselves fit - again it boils down to work ethic.

If you want to be an elite sportsman - you cannot just coast on natural talent but too many of our guys are either too thick or stubborn to understand that. Babar however has the work ethic to maximise his talent. You have to drag him out of the nets.

If you want more Babars, players must put in the hard work that he does. And the PCB must invest to give every youngster in Pakistan the resources and systematic coaching Babar's received from like the age of 15.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Based on what? The recent series against England exposed the batting quite a bit. We are struggling to find power-hitters, which even Zimbabwe has.

 

[hitthestump]

The words 'powerhouse' and 'Pakistan' are pretty far removed from eachother right now when it comes to cricket.

 

[moghul]

Don;t know why this wishful thinking, thanks to Misbah, people like Shoaib, Hafeez, Azhar, Sarfraz , Harris and Shafiq are still the mainstay of Pakistan batting and you're taking about batting powerhouse ?

 

[BreadPakoda]

Not sure about powerhouse but Pakistan as a team batted well in England. It’s the bowling that let them down.

 

[Rana]

I think Babar is brilliant, he inspires so many kids from other countries to bat with a straight bat, so he will inspire a generation of new Batsmen from Pakistan InshaAllah

 

[sweep_shot]

Well, it is not impossible. Anything can happen in cricket.

6 years ago, I doubt anybody would've thought England would become a LOI giant.

Babar has been a brilliant find.

 

[cric_4life]

Being Blunt here. Answer is No. Let Babar perform first he has done well but nothing exceptional yet.

 

[Hitman]

You don't become a batting powerhouse on the back of one good batsman. Babar has been good so far, but nothing exceptional. Of course he has the talent to become exceptional, but that hasn't happened yet. The reason why his country men hype him so much is because he is an exceptional talent by Pakistani batting standards.

What knows what the future holds. Watching him so far one gets the feeling that he'll have a long career playing for Pakistan, and is on the right track to become one of the most accomplished batsman in his country's history. That is provided he improves in Test cricket.

 

[Bhaijaan]

It could.be the beginning of an era sort of things for Pakistani batting with Babar, Haris, Imam, Haider..

 

[Thunderbolt14]

It could.be the beginning of an era sort of things for Pakistani batting with Babar, Haris, Imam, Haider..

You rate Imam?

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

You rate Imam?

He needs to add in Abdullah Shafiq in that list. Excellent batsman.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

He needs to add in Abdullah Shafiq in that list. Excellent batsman.

I am a fan of what I have seen of Abdullah so far and in fact I am one of the most regular to update Abdullah’s thread with his batting clips. However, he has only played one first class game so far and even though he made a century it is a small sample size. We must be careful not to overhype him as fans - he has yet to do anything particularly noteworthy apart from some incredible second XI performances.

I want him to do well this season as to the naked eye he truly does look class.

 

[zain7077]

They will.

Zeeshan Malik
Abdullah Shafiq
Babar Azam
Muhammad Huraira
Saud Shakeel
Haider Ali
Saif Badar
Muhammad Haris


Wow wow wow

 

[Mesozoic]

Is Babar Azam the first world class batsman that Pakistan have ever produced ?

If far better players than his current self like Inzi, MoYo, Anwar, YK etc together couldn't make Pakistan a "batting powerhouse" , what makes you think him alone would be enough to do that?

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Is Babar Azam the first world class batsman that Pakistan have ever produced ?

If far better players than his current self like Inzi, MoYo, Anwar, YK etc together couldn't make Pakistan a "batting powerhouse" , what makes you think him alone would be enough to do that?

It’s a very good question. I’m actually starting at the endpoint - accepting as fact that Babar is spearheading a development in Pakistan’s batting culture based on what I’ve seen and heard first hand. You see lots of youngsters trying to emulate the lad.

Now working backwards, here’s my theory: while Pakistan has always had fantastic batsmen like those you have mentioned, they were always overshadowed by the bowlers in the team. Most 8-year olds wanted to bowl like Wasim rather than bat like Saeed Anwar, 15 year olds already in the system wanted to become all rounders and pinch hitters like Afridi, Razzaq rather than MoYo.

These days, Pakistan no longer has any stars left in the lineup. Not a single one - the only one is Babar who is the first proper batsman in the history of Pakistani cricket to be the biggest star in the team at any point in time for a sustained period. In the 1980s the biggest star was Imran (with the batsman Miandad being more cheeky than classy), in the 1990s it was always Wasim and Waqar, and in the 2000s it was Afridi, Akhtar, and Razzaq.

After that nobody wanted to become Misbah, Umar Akmal, or Ahmed Shehzad. But with the rise of Babar, practically every U-19 youngster this year said Babar was their role model - I think even one of the bowlers said that! Fact of the matter is, no one else in the team is as loved as Babar is. Not Sarfaraz, not Amir, not Shaheen, who’s left?

Babar is one of the best things to happen to Pakistan cricket. Both on field and off - youngsters like Abdullah Shafique are giving more importance to their techniques and it is fascinating to watch. And you need only watch Haider Ali’s cover drive to realize Babar’s influence.

It is difficult being a fan of the Pakistan Cricket Team, and it has long been because of the batting. But for the first time in years, there is a sense of gears turning, cogs shifting, and Babar’s influence spring to life. In addition to changes being made to the coaching setups, the involvement of folks like Gio Colossi, and a restructuring of the domestic setup to increase competition and motivate improvement, I don’t think it will be long before our batting fortunes begin to change, and change irrevocably.

 

[Bhaijaan]

You rate Imam?

I kind of do.

But then, I haven't watched as much as many Pakistani fans would have

 

[gazza619]

Babar alone cant do a thing with his low strike rate. I would higher hopes if Haider shines in all formats and we also find one more solid batsman at no.5.

The presence of the likes of Shafiq and Malik has meant that we never really grew as a batting unit. Haris Sohail, due to his mental and physical weakness didnt fill the void which we were all expecting.

 

[shamaan]

He needs to add in Abdullah Shafiq in that list. Excellent batsman.

And zeeshan malik

 

[shamaan]

I am a fan of what I have seen of Abdullah so far and in fact I am one of the most regular to update Abdullah’s thread with his batting clips. However, he has only played one first class game so far and even though he made a century it is a small sample size. We must be careful not to overhype him as fans - he has yet to do anything particularly noteworthy apart from some incredible second XI performances.

I want him to do well this season as to the naked eye he truly does look class.

What about imran butt omair bin Yousuf zeeshan malik ?

 

[shamaan]

They will.

Zeeshan Malik
Abdullah Shafiq
Babar Azam
Muhammad Huraira
Saud Shakeel
Haider Ali
Saif Badar
Muhammad Haris


Wow wow wow

Yes very good list

 

[shamaan]

Is Babar Azam the first world class batsman that Pakistan have ever produced ?

If far better players than his current self like Inzi, MoYo, Anwar, YK etc together couldn't make Pakistan a "batting powerhouse" , what makes you think him alone would be enough to do that?

Becouse they were proberly better in one format than the other babar I fink is equal in all three

 

[ask_analyse_act]

They will.

Zeeshan Malik
Abdullah Shafiq
Babar Azam
Muhammad Huraira
Saud Shakeel
Haider Ali
Saif Badar
Muhammad Haris


Wow wow wow

None of them will get a chance under Misbah. Babar and Haider Ali that’s it for the next 2 years under Misbah, no one will get a chance

 

[ask_analyse_act]

Well, it is not impossible. Anything can happen in cricket.

6 years ago, I doubt anybody would've thought England would become a LOI giant.

Babar has been a brilliant find.

Yes that is because they were consistent with the chances to Roy , Bairstow, Butler kinda players.

After 2015 they backed Batting powerhouses. They shelved Taylor, bopara, bell type of players.

If you look at the 2015 CWC squad , they had Taylor, bell, bopara, balance, moeen Ali was opening the batting, Anderson and broad. Revamped their side under Morgan and Strauss in the right direction and now they are LOI giants.

 

[Ab Fan]

This is the beginning of new dominance of Pakistan cricket. Under Babar and Rizwan, Pakistan might just be the team to beat in 2020s decade, the amount of talent in that team is enormous and even results are coming up as well.

We are certainly at the cusp of the goldern era of Pakistan batting powerhouse domination post the Azhar Ali era, much like the Indian batting prevailed their dominance post the Mohammad Azharuddin era.

 

[sweep_shot]

Yes that is because they were consistent with the chances to Roy , Bairstow, Butler kinda players.

After 2015 they backed Batting powerhouses. They shelved Taylor, bopara, bell type of players.

If you look at the 2015 CWC squad , they had Taylor, bell, bopara, balance, moeen Ali was opening the batting, Anderson and broad. Revamped their side under Morgan and Strauss in the right direction and now they are LOI giants.

Absolutely.

It is remarkable how England have turned things around. This is the same team that got knocked out by Bangladesh in 2015. They ended up winning the trophy in 2019. It shows the importance of good plannings in cricket.

 

[shamaan]

This is the beginning of new dominance of Pakistan cricket. Under Babar and Rizwan, Pakistan might just be the team to beat in 2020s decade, the amount of talent in that team is enormous and even results are coming up as well.

We are certainly at the cusp of the goldern era of Pakistan batting powerhouse domination post the Azhar Ali era, much like the Indian batting prevailed their dominance post the Mohammad Azharuddin era.

With misbah in charge or after misbah

 

[Rana]

Is Babar Azam the first world class batsman that Pakistan have ever produced ?

If far better players than his current self like Inzi, MoYo, Anwar, YK etc together couldn't make Pakistan a "batting powerhouse" , what makes you think him alone would be enough to do that?

Now he’s the 1st world class batsmen from Pakistan?

 

[Mamoon]

Is Babar Azam the first world class batsman that Pakistan have ever produced ?

If far better players than his current self like Inzi, MoYo, Anwar, YK etc together couldn't make Pakistan a "batting powerhouse" , what makes you think him alone would be enough to do that?

Pakistan’s bowling at the time of Inzamam, Saeed Anwar and MoYo was quite good and they were bigger stars than these batsmen.

The likes of Wasim, Waqar and Akhtar had more fanfare than Inzamam, Saeed Anwar and MoYo. As far as Younis is concerned, he was a flop in Limited Overs cricket and his playing style didn’t make him a star in terms of fan following.

Babar’s rise has coincided with Pakistan becoming a garbage bowling nation where rubbish bowlers like Naseem, Rauf, Hasnain etc. are hyped. These bowlers wouldn’t even make our bench 15 years ago.

This is the only period in our cricket history where a batsman is by far the biggest and most famous active cricket star in the country. It has never happened before.

Having said, Pakistan is a small and mediocre cricket nation today and we don’t have the capacity to produce a batch of world class batsmen. So Babar will not really revolutionize anything.