Salman Butt: “As much money as Sydney Sixers have given Babar Azam, they’ve already recovered it through social media. His signing caused a huge rise in their following. Babar Azam is one of the top-notch players, and I believe he truly deserves it”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt believes that batsman Babar Azam fully deserved the money he earned from the Sydney Sixers for playing in the Big Bash League (BBL).
He pointed out that Azam “caused a huge rise in their following” and added that the Sixers likely already recouped what they paid him through social media.
In 11 matches, the 31-year-old amassed 202 runs, which included two half-centuries, at an average of 22.44 and a strike rate of 103.06.
“As much money as Sydney Sixers have given Babar Azam, they’ve already recovered it through social media. His signing caused a huge rise in their following. Babar Azam is one of the top-notch players, and I believe he truly deserves it,” Salman was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently represented Pakistan in the 2026 T20 World Cup and made 91 runs in six matches at an average of 22.75 and a strike-rate of 112.34.
He was then left out of the national team for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh in Mirpur, which the men in green lost 2-1.
Currently, Azam is captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and scored 39 runs against the Rawalpindiz.
The Zalmi’s next match against the Karachi Kings was washed out due to persistent rain.
They will be back in action on April 8 when they take on the Hyderabad Kingsmen in Karachi.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 11: Babar Azam (captain), Sufiyan Muqeem, Abdul Samad, Ali Raza, Aaron Hardie, Aamer Jamal, Khurram Shahzad, Khalid Usman, Mohammad Haris, Abdul Subhan, James Vince, Michael Bracewell, Kusal Mendis, Iftikhar Ahmed, Nahid Rana, Mirza Tahir Baig, Kashif Ali, Shahnawaz Dahani, Farhan Yousuf, Shoriful Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Brian Bennett