Babar Azam’s batting style in PSL 2023 left Simon Doull unsatisfied

• Babar Azam’s batting style in PSL 2023 left Simon Doull unsatisfied.
• Doull questioned the Pakistan captain’s strategy after Babar played a dot ball.
• He needed 32 balls to get to fifty, then another 28 to turn it into a tonne.

Former New Zealand cricketer and well-known commentator Simon Doull was disappointed with Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam’s batting strategy during Wednesday’s Pakistan Premier League (PSL) season eight match against Quetta Gladiators at the Pindi Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi.

Azam concluded with a 65-ball score of 115 after scoring his first PSL century against the Gladiators. He needed 32 balls to get to fifty, then another 28 to turn it into a tonne.

He was on 80 off 44 at one point, but it took him 16 more balls to reach the three-figure milestone, so the last 20 runs he needed to reach his century didn’t come easily.

Doull questioned the Pakistan captain’s strategy after Babar played a dot ball during Naseem Shah’s over while he was on 99 runs.

During commentary, Simon said, “The last little while, that’s all that has been happening rather than looking for boundaries still, when you’ve got so much firepower to come [Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan and all-rounder Aamer Jamal were waiting in the wings],”

“Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but it still must be team first.”

Jersey # 56 lives rent-free in our hearts 🥰#SabSitarayHumaray l #HBLPSL8 l #PZvQG pic.twitter.com/e6HsozWROG

— PakistanSuperLeague (@thePSLt20) March 8, 2023

Babar’s partner Imam-ul-Haq and former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi had previously questioned the right-performance hander’s in the game’s shortest version.

While speaking in an interview Shahid Afridi said, “Babar is number one in the world, he is the identity of the country, but one thing that stops him from reaching the AB de Villiers/Virat Kohli rank is finishing. As a match-winner, he hasn’t proved himself yet. If I am wrong, you can correct me. I want him to become a finisher. He should finish games. That’s the thing holding back his class,”

“I would want to add…because I know him and we have talked about this. Babar concurs with it as well. I’ve played enough cricket, so I need to show more authority and control so that I can win games instead of quitting them in the middle. Lala [Afridi] is totally correct,” the Imam said, approving of Afridi’s statement.

With 343 runs in eight innings and a 140 strike rate, Azam is now the third-highest run scorer in the PSL 8.

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