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You could see in Mike Hesson’s eyes during his press conference that he was waiting to be asked about Babar Azam. There is a look that people – commentators, writers, content makers and even the head coach of Pakistan – have when they are going to be asked that. Because outside of Virat Kohli, it is the most asked question in our sport.
And in this press conference, Hesson was there after Pakistan added Babar Azam to their T20 World Cup squad.
People talk and argue about Babar Azam more than he wins games in T20s. That is why he was out of the side. He – along with fellow anchor Mohammad Rizwan – were dumped after the Champions Trophy, only returning to the team after the Asia Cup.
And yet, Sydney Sixers signed him as their pre-draft overseas player for this BBL season last June. Rachael Haynes, their general manager, cited his skill, professionalism and experience as things of “enormous value”.
No one is doubting those, but how about his strike rate? In T20 cricket, Babar is a family sedan that struggles to get into fourth gear.
Unfortunately for the Sixers and Babar, neither his skill nor his experience could stop him from having the slowest season for any batter with at least 200 runs. Look at the names on this graph. Nathan McSweeney and Jonathan Wells strike at 42 in first-class cricket. That is not ideal company to be in during a T20 conversation.
True strike rates save him from getting the wooden spoon again. But striking at 32 less than expected is just shockingly low, even for an anchor.
And for an overseas player, it’s horrible.
And by the end, even his professionalism was under the scanner. It’s human for any batter to feel frustrated after being denied the strike – even if it was for the betterment of the team. Getting out immediately after just adds to the fury. But when skipper Moises Henriques talked about how it took Babar a couple of days to get over it before eventually making up, it was revealing. He brought up the cultural differences, but T20 is a team sport to the core, even more so than the longer formats. We’re barely in 2026, and we are seeing retired outs across leagues at the blink of an eye.
No matter how big you are, nobody is bigger than the game.
Many have asked, was Babar Azam picked in the Big Bash for his batting, or because is a celebrity? And for Pakistan, was he chosen because he’s simply their most talented batter, ignoring the T20 results?
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Steve Smith has not played in the last four IPL seasons, and his last T20I was in February 2024. He has not been picked for this T20 World Cup. He only played a solitary match in the 2022 edition, and was not selected in 2024 either. But Smith has his eyes set on the 2028 LA Olympics. And so, we’ve seen him evolve his game.
He went from being this middling anchor to massively improving on both true strike rate and average. That is mostly because of his BBL exploits, but he also had a great time in the MLC in 2024. It’s commendable, because he has also been superb in Tests since his hundred against India at the Gabba. On the other hand, Kane Williamson, Rizwan and Babar are still scoring at below par rates.
There are two ways to really illustrate the difference between Smith and the others. In this BBL, Babar had the second-lowest attacking shot percentage, while Rizwan also made the bottom ten with ease. Their neighbours were Cameron Bancroft and Nathan McSweeney. Smith was on the other end of the graph, closer to Finn Allen and Jake Fraser-McGurk maverick territory.
And while Babar does start quicker than his teammate Rizwan and Williamson, Smith is just a long way off them. He’s running a 100 metre sprint, while the others are warming themselves up for a marathon.
Normal players would not get gigs worldwide with these sort of numbers. But there is an element of teams still trusting the pedigree of international stars if they’ve lost a bunch of early wickets on the odd pitch that’s seaming or ragging sideways. While that logic makes sense on paper, now we’re also seeing T20 specialists upgrade their weaker skills.