But what about his strike rate? This criticism is often thrown at Babar Azam. The current Peshawar Zalmi skipper has built a career of scoring heaps of runs. Two weeks ago, he had become the fastest batter to score 10,000 T20 runs, beating the likes of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle.
However, this criticism has some truth in it. Babar, despite averaging over 40 in T20 cricket, strikes at less than 130 in nearly 300 matches. But in this PSL 2024 season, the star batter has flipped the script. In the 7 matches he’s played so far, he has accumulated 394 runs at 65.66 and a strike rate of 152.12. He also had 1 hundred and 3 fifties.
These freakish numbers speak for themselves, but Babar Azam himself spoke about the often ‘unfair’ criticism he receives. After Peshawar Zalmi eked out a 4-run victory over the Multan Sultans last night, the batter responded to critics in the post-match presentation ceremony.
“People are talking a lot about my strike rate these days. People want me to go out there and hit sixes, but that is not my strength. I try to stick to my strength and get better every day,” said Babar Azam.
