Pakistan batsman Babar Azam not selected for Sri Lanka series; Hence, he continued his stay with BBL franchise Sydney Sixers, but the slow strike rate remains a constant threat for the experienced batsman. Opening the innings with Steve Smith, Azam’s strike rate dipped below 65 on the difficult Sydney surface.
Pakistan’s star batsman Babar Azam made his Big Bash League debut in the 2025-26 season after NOC from PCB. Pakistan players are playing in other leagues, this is an approach of PCB to attract more players in PSL.
Babar, along with Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi, Shadab Khan, Haris Rauf and many others, were among the Pakistan players selected to star in the BBL. Talking about Babar Azam, his form in BBL has not been good, ICC T20 World Cup is also knocking at the door.
Babar Azam cruises at 64.29 on tough Sydney surface
Sydney Sixers have not benefited much from the inclusion of Babar Azam. Yet he has given him a chance throughout the series. After playing for Sydney, he found a new opening partner in Steve Smith, who returned after a successful Ashes campaign.
Azam, along with Steve Smith, found it difficult to play in conditions that were conducive to extreme lateral movement. Although Smith hit some shots in the middle and scored 19 runs in 16 balls with the help of one four and one six at a strike rate of 118.75, on the other hand, Babar Azam also failed to ease the pressure.
Scoring just 9 runs off 14 balls in a T20 game is terrible by the standards of the world’s most successful T20I batsman, who is the highest scorer in the format. With a strike rate of 64.29, Babar failed to accelerate as rain played spoilsport in Sydney.
Babar Azam has shown very poor form in BBL.
The performance of Pakistan’s legendary player in the Big Bash League has been very poor. Before coming to the BBL, he played a key role for Pakistan in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe but failed to perform consistently.
While Babar was expected to regain the lost consistency, he faltered further in Australia’s bouncy conditions. In 8 matches, the batsman scored 154 runs at an average of 25.66 and a very low strike rate of less than 120.
Although he has two half-centuries, one against the Thunder and the other against the Renegades, both of which resulted in wins for the Sydney Sixers, he has failed to reach double figures 5 times in 8 matches.
Will Babar be dropped from the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 squad?
Babar Azam has been selected in the Pakistan ICC T20 World Cup provisional squad which has been submitted to the ICC. However, he has not been selected for the three-match series in Sri Lanka and has also not been confirmed for the home series against Australia.
Azam is not only a T20 legend but also a big name in Pakistan cricket, which means he will be a memorable one for them in the ICC T20 World Cup. However, the message still seems to be that if Babar continues this abysmal form, he may even be dropped from the World Cup squad, as happened in the Asia Cup.
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