Sean Abbott: “Babar hits you where Babar wants to, and I’m sick of bowling at him. Whether it’s domestic cricket or international cricket, I don’t think I’ve ever got him out, and it feels a bit like a death by a thousand cuts sometimes”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Australia speedster Sean Abbott has admitted that he is sick of bowling to Pakistan batsman Babar Azam as “Babar hits you where Babar wants to”.
Abbott revealed that he does not recall ever dismissing Azam, conceding that facing the 31-year-old often feels like “death by a thousand cuts.”
His remarks come after the two shared a dressing room at the Sydney Sixers during the recent Big Bash League (BBL) season, an experience Abbott said he is grateful for.
“Babar hits you where Babar wants to, and I’m sick of bowling at him. Whether it’s domestic cricket or international cricket, I don’t think I’ve ever got him out, and it feels a bit like a death by a thousand cuts sometimes because you look up the scoreboard and he is striking at 120 and you don’t feel like you are nowhere near getting him out,” Abbott was quoted as saying by A Sports.
Azam was recently in action in the 2026 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he captained the Peshawar Zalmi and played an instrumental role in helping them win the title.
He finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 588 runs in 11 games, which included two centuries and three fifties, at an average of 73.50 and a strike-rate of 145.90.
Azam is now part of Pakistan’s squad for the ongoing two-Test tour of Bangladesh.
The men in green lost the 1st Test in Mirpur by 104 runs, but Azam did not feature in the match due to a left knee injury.
It remains to be seen if he will be fit in time for the 2nd Test, which gets underway on May 16 in Sylhet.
Pakistan Squad for Bangladesh Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Abdullah Fazal, Amad Butt, Azan Awais, Babar Azam, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Ghazi Ghori (wicketkeeper), Noman Ali, Sajid Khan, Salman Ali Agha, Saud Shakeel, Shaheen Shah Afridi