‘Babar Azam finds himself a bit behind’: Faf du Plessis explains Pakistan star’s struggles in T20 World Cup | Cricket News
pakistani star batsman Babar Azam The T20 World Cup has been a tough one so far, with only 66 runs scored in four matches and a poor strike rate. As a result, he was moved from his usual opening position to the middle order in the batting order, a move that sparked controversy.former south africa captain Fife du Plessis Backing Pakistan head coach Mike Hesson’s decision, he said it made sense given the pace of modern T20 cricket. He pointed out that the strike rate in the powerplay has increased significantly and batsmen are now required to score runs at a faster pace.
“Look, I think first of all, all great players develop their career at different stages in their career. So a guy like Babar, we’ve known for a long time that he’s one of the best players in the world. I think T20 cricket has moved forward so fast and towards batting averages that he finds himself a bit behind in batting averages,” Du Plessis said.He added, “Look at what he’s done over the past few years, especially on the power play, it’s been too fast and too forward to hit 120. Now you need to be 160-190-200-plus to maximize your hits in the first six overs.”Still, du Plessis believes Babar is still very valuable, especially on slower pitches where batting rotation is important. “So I think if you’re a guy like Mike Hutson who’s trying to figure out the best way to introduce him into the game and spin the pitch in the middle, that’s where a guy like him deserves a gold medal,” he said.He also noted that “when you come to flat-wicket, the role is not that important these days… so I can imagine that he is almost thinking about how to get the best out of Babar Azam.”
