Pakistani T20 team captain Babar Azam, who stepped onto the cricket field in 2015 as an opener, is considered one of the best cricketers around the world. Nevertheless, his strike rate in T20 format has been questioned several times, and it is an area that the South African player needs to improve.
Some critics stated that the match’s result shows that, despite being a good batsman, Babar lacks the explosive scoring reputation suitable for T20 cricket.
Babar Azam’s Powerplay Struggles in the T20 World Cup
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Above all, the article analyzes Babar Azam’s power play deficiencies in the T20 World Cup.
But the below figure comes as a shock, especially when analyzing Babar Azam ’s strike rate during power plays in T20 World Cup tournaments in the past. Till now, Babar has been pretty slow even in balls faced per over, as he has faced 14 balls in total while scoring his runs at a fair average but a sub-par strike rate of 86. 91. Which, at ODI, can be considered a decent to good number, but in T20 it actually is not very impressive.
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During a total of 14 innings, he was able to make 166 runs out of 191 balls with only 20 over boundaries, but unfortunately contributed six during the powerplays.
This has been considered cautious, and that too while considering the scoring rates expected in T20 matches, most particularly in the initial overs.
Team Selection Controversy
Saim Ayub was expected to be in the starting eleven for Pakistan for the T20 World Cup; however, he did not get to play in the match against the USA. However, Pakistan went in with Usman Khan, who is capable of being an anchor at number 3, enabling Babar to bat in the power play with Mohammad Rizwan.
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In the preceding T20 World Cup, there were great controversies when it came to the selection of Pakistan’s opening batsmen. Even Babar Azam himself, at one stage reportedly suggested the possibility of playing at number one, which would put Ayub and Rizwan as the genuine openers.
On the other hand, as the tournament expected came near, Babar Azam imposed Rizwan in the upper order in place of Ayub, a hard hitter.
This choice, particularly considering Babar’s moderate powerplay exhibitions, is probably going to be addressed as the competition advances. Babar Azam’s strike rate in T20 cricket, especially during powerplays, keeps on being a disagreeable issue.
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