AUS Legend Gives Babar Azam A Reality Check After BBL Fifty: 'He Still Has To...'

Babar Azam’s second half-century in the 2025-26 Big Bash League (BBL) wasn’t enough to impress Australian batting legend Adam Gilchrist. Chasing 165 against the Melbourne Renegades, the Sydney Sixers opener scored a 46-ball 58, with four boundaries and a six, to accumulate a strike-rate of 126.

Babar remained not out as the Sixers chased down the score in 19.1 overs, but it would have gone tricky had the number six, Joel Davies, not scored a 15-ball 34 at the death. Gilchrist wasn’t happy with the Pakistani star’s lack of intent during the innings, saying he was putting too much pressure on his partner.

“A lot of balls [off his shots] would go square of the wicket or behind just with a little touch,” Gilchrist said. “He is not known to have a really

power-packed game. It’s not often he is going to hoick across the line and slog one over the boundary for a six. It’s all about building the innings. He’s got his foundation now, but he still has to be proactive. He can’t just think run-a-ball and then place all the responsibility on his batting partner to get it done.”

What Gilchrist described has just been Babar’s style throughout his career. It worked for him as a top-order batter initially because he’d find success in big matches on difficult pitches.

However, recently, with wickets getting flatter for T20Is all around the world, it has become counter-productive. In November, after he hit a 47-ball 68 against South Africa, Salman Ali Agha had offered his full support to the star batter.

“He knows he needs to bring new things into his game,” Agha said. “That sweep shot, which you do not normally associate with him, got him a number of runs today. He understands this stuff because he’s such a big player, and he recognizes he needs to take things to the next level. I really hope we see this kind of Babar in future, because if he performs, we’ll definitely win matches. That’s a good sign for us… We’re all delighted for Babar. The whole country is. In big games, big players step up. He did that today, and I really hope he continues along this vein and we see this Babar perform in the next four or five years,” he added.

But if the performances are to continue like this, a lot of Babar’s success at the 2026 T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka will depend on the pitches.