Peshawar Zalmi batting coach Misbah-ul-Haq has praised Pakistani legend and Zalmi captain Babar Azam for his brilliant innings against Karachi Kings. He claimed that the batsman was trying to change his game, which was not working for him, but now he is back to his strengths, and the results have been spectacular.
Experienced Pakistani batsman and highest T20I run scorer Babar Azam has been in poor form for the last few years. Not only has his form declined, but he has also faced heavy criticism for his slow innings with a low strike rate.
Amid criticism after Pakistan’s exit from the T20 World Cup and being dropped from the ODI squad for Pakistan’s tour of Bangladesh last month, the veteran has performed well for his PSL franchise Peshawar Zalmi. After their recent win over Karachi Kings, Peshawar Zalmi remains the only undefeated team of PSL 2026.
Babar Azam’s brilliant innings in PSL showed a glimpse of his return to form.
What everyone saw at the Karachi National Stadium on Thursday was indeed a rare glimpse of a brilliant T20I performance from Peshawar Zalmi and Karachi Kings. Although the match ended in a one-sided manner, the batting masterclass by the Zalmi batsmen was worth mentioning.
Babar Azam, who had given good starts in the last two matches, did not stop this time, converting his starts into big scores. Azam scored his first half-century of the season and what looked better was his strike rate.
He scored 87 runs and remained unbeaten till the end after playing 51 balls. With 10 fours and 2 sixes, he batted at a strike rate of 170.59, which was promising for a batsman who bowled out Zalmi throughout the innings.
Coach Misbah-ul-Haq explained the reason behind Babar’s change, “Babar is trying to play to his strengths.”
Following the Pakistani batsman’s brilliant innings, former Pakistani captain and Peshawar Zalmi batting coach Misbah-ul-Haq has extensively praised his efforts, calling him an exceptional cricketer who has returned to his strength.
According to Misbah, after being heavily criticized for his poor strike rate, Babar Azam was trying to change the type of his strokeplay. However, those new techniques were not traditional for Babur and he was not getting the desired results. So he has returned to his original style of timing the ball well.
Misbah-ul-Haq said, “Babar is trying to play to his strengths. At one time, he was changing his game and losing his shape. Now he has realized this and is going back to his original style, focusing on timing the ball and maintaining his shape. That is what he is trying to do. Doing what he does best, he played a great innings today.”
Kusal Mendis takes Peshawar Zalmi to huge score
Peshawar Zalmi can give huge credit to Babar Azam for handling the innings; However, it was clear to everyone watching the game that had it not been for Kusal Mendis, Zalmi would not have been able to get even close to the huge score.
The Sri Lankan batsman who was part of the Gujarat Titans squad last season as a replacement for Jos Buttler has been playing in the PSL this season after promising T20 World Cup form. He scored his first PSL century and scored 109 runs at an average of 209.62 off just 52 balls.
On the basis of this huge score, Zalmi managed to achieve a huge victory of 159 runs over Karachi Kings after bowling them out on the score of 87.
Also read: Fastest ever! Babar Azam breaks big T20 record of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli amid PSL 2026