Pakistan cricket has been embroiled in a debate around Babar Azam’s batting for quite some time now, even from when he was the team’s captain. It certainly hasn’t been different at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup so far, with the star batter’s strike rate and role in a T20 unit coming under scrutiny. Despite being the leading runscorer in men’s T20I internationals, his skills in relation to the modern T20 game have been debated, and his form at the tournament hasn’t helped his case. He has scores of 15 (vs NED), 46 (vs USA), 5 (vs IND) so far and was unused in the batting order against Namibia, when Pakistan were looking for big runs.
Head coach Mike Hesson was asked a pointed question on Babar’s batting position, whether it was ‘cricketing suicide’ to play him at No 4. “Look, it’s what the team requires and Babar is well aware of that,” Hesson said on Friday, a day ahead of the team’s Super 8s clash against New Zealand in Colombo. “He’s aware his strike rate in the power play in World Cups is less than 100 in T20s. So clearly, that’s not a role (top of the order) that we think we need here. We think he’s a fine player through the middle, if required when we’re in a little bit of trouble, or as we saw against the USA, once he gets himself set, he can increase his strike rate at that point.”
Hesson also explained why Babar was unused in the match against Namibia, with the scoreboard reading 107/2 in the 13th over when the second wicket well, the moment he’d have expected to walk in.
“We brought Babar back in for a specific role post the Asia Cup. We wanted some batsmanship through the middle, and he certainly brings that for us. And he did in many games throughout the last 10 (we have played). So, the other day we got to the 12th over mark and at that point, Babar is not the best person to come in. We’ve got plenty of other options who can perform that role towards the end. And Babar is actually the first to acknowledge that. He knows that he’s got a certain set of skills that the team requires, and there are certain times where other players can perform that role more efficiently.”
Hesson was also questioned about Pakistan leaving out senior players Fakhar Zaman and Shaheen Shah Afridi for the must-win game against Namibia. Left-arm pacer Salman Mirza came in for Shaheen, while there have been calls for Fakhar to replace Babar in the lineup. “We picked the best team to play that particular game for Pakistan. We made a call that Salman Mirza was coming in for Shaheen. He bowled incredibly well. To be fair, he was probably really unlucky to not be playing the second and third games. His record since he started playing for Pakistan is exceptional. And conditions have dictated that we’re only playing two seamers, and often those two seamers are not even bowling their full complement,” Hesson said about the pacers situaton.
Regarding Fakhar, the New Zealander added that the perceived one-dimensionality of the top order that is largely right-handers doesn’t matter to him: “We have Nawaz, we have Faheem (Ashraf) as well, who are both left-handers who can do a role there. But absolutely, I mean, Fakhar is in the squad. We know that if he’s required, if we end up having to play a lot of left-arm spin and the ball turns, that the advantage of that is important. And we’ve got that flexibility within the squad.”
