Harsha Bhogle: “Babar Azam had a batting average of 50 or 55 but a strike-rate of 120. If you are playing with a strike rate of 110 or 115 in T20 cricket, the longer you bat, the more you are ensuring your team’s defeat”

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle believes that in the early part of Babar Azam’s T20 career, his poor strike-rate caused Pakistan to lose many matches.

While Bhogle acknowledged the Pakistan limited overs captain’s impressive batting average, he pointed out that a batsman’s strike-rate should be more important as it could mean the difference between winning and losing.

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“For the major part of his first two or three years, Babar Azam had a batting average of 50 or 55 but a strike-rate of 120. If you are playing with a strike rate of 110 or 115 in T20 cricket, the longer you bat, the more you are ensuring your team’s defeat,” Bhogle said on the Red Inker with Jarrod Kimber podcast as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

“Suddenly the batting average is running contrary to what batting average does in any other form of cricket.”

Azam is currently in England with the rest of the Pakistan team, where they are preparing for the Test and T20 series.

After spending 14 days in isolation in Worcester, the Pakistan team arrived in Derby on Monday.

They will travel to Manchester on August 1 prior to the start of the Test series.

Pakistan are scheduled to play three Tests and three T20 Internationals against England, with the first Test starting on August 5 and the T20 series beginning on August 28.

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