Simon Doull Launches Scathing Attack On Babar Azam ‘Hundreds Are Brilliant But…’

Rawalpindi: Babar Azam played a magnificent knock of 115 against Quetta Gladiators to help Peshawar Zalmi post a daunting 240-2 on the board. Little did he know that his breathtaking century will be overshadowed by a rampant knock by Jason Roy who whacked 145 to help Quetta scrip a record PSL chase.

Babar batted at an overall strike rate of 176, however, the rate took a dip when he was nearing the century. Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull, who is commentating in the PSL, was not impressed by Babar’s dip in scoring rate and slammed him on air.

“Rather than putting the team first… the last little while, that’s all that been happening. Rather than looking for boundaries, still, so much firepower to come. Hundreds are brilliant, stats are great, but it has to be team first,” Doull said during the match.

Babar Azam has often been criticised for his slow strike rate but the batter has maintained a stern stance that he will play his game according to the situation.

“Jason Roy changed the game totally. Bowling was not up to the mark, what we discussed we did not execute. Having one more spinner wouldn’t have helped as the pitch was great. We wanted to carry on with the same combination from last game. The way Saim Ayub started, it helped carry on the momentum, as a youngster he is improving day by day and it’s good for Pakistan cricket. As a professional, you need to identify a few things and we will sit and discuss what went wrong. We have back to back games now and we want to come back,” said Babar after the loss.

Coming back to the game, Roy’s brutal 145 off 63 balls clubbed with Mohammad Hafeez’s 41 off 18 helped Quetta chase the target with 10 balls to spare.