'Hitting sixes not my strength' - Babar Azam blasts strike rate critics

Former Pakistan National Cricket Team captain Babar Azam has lashed out at the critics of his strike rate in white-ball cricket. Babar Azam also made an honest admission that hitting maximums is not his strength and he is a traditionalist when it comes to his approach.

Babar Azam has faced heavy criticism for not playing aggressively in white-ball cricket. There have been instances when the batter has failed to smash boundaries in crucial situations which has resulted in the defeat of his team. He has a strike rate of 88.75 in ODIs and 129.12 in T20Is. Also, he has struck over 10000 runs in the T20 format but has a strike rate of just 129.40.

He is currently leading the Peshawar Zalmi in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 and has done a brilliant job both as a captain and a batsman. He has significantly improved his strike rate and played some stunning knocks for the franchise.

Currently, Babar Azam sits at the top of the leading run-getters chart. In 7 matches, he has slammed 394 runs at an astonishing average of 65.66 and a good strike rate of 152.12 with the best score being 111*.

Notably, Babar Azam has had most of his success as an opener in T20 cricket and he does the same for his franchise in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). However, he no longer opens for the Pakistan National Cricket Team in T20Is as he was demoted to No.3 and Saim Ayub joined Mohammad Rizwan at the top.

“People are talking a lot about my strike rate these days” – Babar Azam

Speaking after his team’s 4-run win over Multan Sultans, where Babar Azam won the Player of the Match award, the Peshawar Zalmi captain opened up about the criticism over his T20 batting.

He spoke about how people have been talking a lot about his strike rate and want him to hit sixes. Babar Azam stated that power-hitting is not his strength and he tries to stick to his strength.

“People are talking a lot about my strike rate these days. People want me to go out there and hit sixes, but that is not my strength. I try to stick to my strength and get better every day,” Babar Azam said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

Babar Azam, who relinquished the all-format captaincy of Pakistan after the World Cup 2023, became the first batter to score 3000 runs in the history of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). He also broke the historic record of the legendary West Indies National Cricket Team batsman Chris Gayle to become the fastest batter to reach the landmark of 10000 runs in T20 cricket.

There have been rumors in Pakistan media of Babar Azam being reappointed as captain of Pakistan, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. Currently, Shaheen Afridi is the official captain of the T20I team and Shan Masood is the skipper of the Test team.

Babar Azam will be next seen in action when his team take on Quetta Gladiators in the 25th match of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2024 on March 08, 2024.