Peshawar Zalmi’s captain Babar Azam was visibly irked by a journalist’s query about his strike rate after his team’s recent loss to Islamabad United in the PSL 2023. Islamabad demolished Zalmi by 6 wickets after chasing down the target in 14.5 overs.
The Babar Azam-led side posted 156/8 in 20 overs, with the captain top-scoring (75* in 58 balls) after a batting-order collapse which saw the Zalmi going from 76/0 to 99/5 within the space of 28 deliveries. Babar, instead of accelerating was stuck playing the anchor role as Zalmi posted a below-par score.
On the other hand, Rahmanullah Gurbaz made 62 and Rassie van der Dussen made 42, while Asif Ali ended the match by scoring 29* in 13 balls, as Islamabad won the match by 6 wickets in the 15th over.
Following this embarrassing defeat, questions were once again raised over Babar Azam’s strike rate and intent as well. In the post-match presentation, he was asked if he could’ve done anything differently or played more aggressively.
This frustrated Babar a lot and he snapped at the journalist asking him the question.
“Kitna achha chahiye aapko? (How much do you want?),” Babar asked the reporter in reference to the strike rate. “200,” the reporter replied.
“300 kar lein aap. (Why don't you just say 300!)," replied Babar.
The reporter clarified that he was not doubting Babar’s abilities and skills, but his query was on his strike rate only. Babar explained that it was difficult to increase the momentum after wickets fell in a heap in the middle of the innings.
“See, you try. People keep saying things. My strike rate in the first 10 overs was nearly 160. But when you lose 5-6 wickets back to back, you don't try to take your strike rate to 200. You have to build a partnership then. That is what I tried to do.
You always try to carry the momentum forward, you don't try to break it down. It only happens when wickets fall. My plan was to build a partnership with (Dasun) Shanaka, take it to the 15th over and then take charge. So, justifiably, the strike rate would go down,” Babar further said.
Here is the video of the interaction:
