Pakistan captain Babar Azam is hailed as one of the best batters in the world, however, there have always been questions about his strike rate in T20 cricket whether he plays for Pakistan or in the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
Though, he is known for scoring consistently across formats, however, he has been criticized for his strike rate and lack of intent. But Babar Azam isn’t too much concerned about the noise.
Azam played a magnificent knock of 75 runs on Thursday, February 23 against Islamabad United, but once again he found himself at the receiving end of criticism for his strike rate (129.3). Peshawar Zalmi underwent a massive middle-order collapse as they went from 76/0 to 99/5. His side did reach 156, however, that wasn’t enough as Islamabad chased it down without much discomfort.
Babar Azam Trolled A Reporter
After the game, Babar Azam was quizzed about his strike rate and he decided to take a dig at the reporter. He replied:
“Aur kitna accha [strike rate] chahiye aapko? 300 kar lein? Koshish hai (How much better you want? Why not 300? I am trying to reach there as well),” Babar said.
Then the reporter went on to explain his question, saying that though he is regarded as one of the finest batters in the world, however, his tempo at which he scores runs is always questioned. He said:
“Baatein toh jab strike rate accha bhi tab bhi hoti hain, iss cheez ka farak nahi padta. Pehle 10 over mera strike rate almost 160 tha, lekin jab 6 out ho gaye hain, toh aap wahaan pe koshish nahi karenge ki 200 pe jaun main. Koshish karunga ki wahan pe partnership build karun. Aaj ki innings mein mera yahi plan tha.” (People talk when I bat at a good strike rate as well, so that doesn’t bother me. In first 10 overs, I was striking at 160 and when we were 6 down, there you don’t focus on increasing your strike rate, rather I would build a partnership then and that was my plan in today’s innings.)
“When you build a certain momentum, you try to carry it for long unless it gets broken by a wicket or two, or when you are not able to hit. Then my plan was to build a partnership after the 10-over mark because I told Shanaka that we’ll play normally till 15 overs and then take the charge. Then we lost back-to-back wickets and in that process, the SR is bound to come down and it was still 150,” he added.
Watch the viral video:
Babar Azam responds to a question about his strike rate.#HBLPSL8 | #PSL2023 | #PZvIU pic.twitter.com/J5WIImXrLx
— Grassroots Cricket (@grassrootscric) February 23, 2023
