PSL 2023: Simon Doull blasts ‘selfish’ Babar Azam

Former Kiwi pacer and cricket commentator, Simon Doull is known to speak his mind.

His views are refreshingly honest and it’s blessing for cricket fans to hear him speak as he doesn’t hold back his punches, even when big names are involved.

The latest subject of his ire is Pakistan batting hero, Babar Azam!

Here is the context.

Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators faced each other in Match 25 of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023 at Pindi Club Ground on March 9.

Opting to bat first, Peshawar rode on skipper Babar Azam’s century (115 off 65 balls) to post 240/2 on the board.

In reply, Quetta overhauled the target with 10 balls to spare, thanks to Jason Roy who smashed a dazzling 145* off 63 balls.

Despite hitting a ton, Doull criticised Babar over his pace of scoring.

The Zalmi captain got off to a blazing start but he slowed down considerably while getting closer to his century.

Notably, Babar Azam was on 83 off 46 balls and then took 14 deliveries to notch the three-figure mark.

The sudden fall in strike-rate didn’t go down well with Simon Doull, who was on-air at the time.

When Babar was on 99, he played a dot ball during the over by Naseem Shah and Doull questioned the Pakistan captain’s approach.

“The last little while, that’s all that has been happening rather than looking for boundaries still, when you’ve got so much firepower to come [Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan and all-rounder Aamer Jamal were waiting in the wings].” said Doull during commentary.

“Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but it still must be team first.”

Simon Doull’s censure of the Peshawar Zalmi was not an isolated incident.

Hee has been vocal about Pakistan’s prominent players during the ongoing tournament.

Previously, the 53-year-old had advised Mohammad Rizwan to retire when he struggled in an innings.

Despite Rizwan going on to score a century against Karachi Kings, Doull stood by his criticism.

Interestingly, when New Zealand were touring Pakistan for a Test series in January, Doull took a dig at Babar Azam, alleging him for instructing the curators to prepare road-like pitches so that he can create personal records.

It’s hard to disagree with Doull as Babar’s slowing down may have cost Peshawar the match.

It’s also true that not many would have done what Simon Doull managed to do – criticising a star player in his own country and indirectly calling him selfish for putting himself above the team’s interest.

The Gladiators’ win elevated them to fifth place in the points table, having secured three victories in nine matches.

Earlier, former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi and Babar’s teammate Imam-ul-Haq also questioned the prolific right-hander’s batting in the shortest format of the game.

“Babar is number one in the world, he is the identity of the country, but one thing that stops him from reaching the AB de Villiers/Virat Kohli rank is finishing. As a match-winner, he hasn’t proved himself yet.”

“If I am wrong, you can correct me. I want him to become a finisher. He should finish games. That’s the thing holding back his class,” Afridi said while speaking on a local news channel.

“I would like to add…because I know him and this is spoken about in our discussions. Babar agrees with it too.”

It must be noted that Azam is currently the third highest run-scorer in the PSL 8 with 343 runs in eight innings at a strike-rate of 140.

So while Babar is scoring runs, he needs to tweak his approach slightly to benefit the team instead of just chasing personal records.