Last Updated on 2 years by Charbel Coorey
Cricket News: Simon Doull criticised Babar Azam for slowing down while nearing his maiden PSL ton after Peshwar Zalmi’s loss to the Quetta Gladiators
New Zealand commentator Simon Doull criticised Peshawar Zalmi skipper Babar Azam for slowing down as he approached his century as the national team captain’s franchise lost to Quetta Gladiators despite putting up 240 on the board in the first innings.
Azam scored 115 off 65 deliveries but evidently undertook a more cautious approach nearing his maiden ton in the Pakistan Super League (PSL). Not out at 80 off 44 deliveries at one point, the 28-year-old took 16 more deliveries to score his next 20 runs and that did ultimately hamper the Zalmi’s prospects of notching an even bigger total.
Eventually, Jason Roy’s 145-run blinder off 63 deliveries helped the Gladiators chase down the target with relative ease in merely 18.2 overs. On commentary, Doull did not mince words when it came to the need of moving the game forward.
“The last little while, that’s all that has been happening rather than looking for boundaries still, when you’ve got so much firepower to come [Mohammad Haris, Haseebullah Khan and all-rounder Aamer Jamal were to follow]. Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but it still must be team first,” Doull said.
With his latest century, Azam has climbed to the second rank in the list of batsmen with most centuries in T20 cricket. He has equalled the records set by Australian stalwarts like Aaron Finch and David Warner (eight each) and only Caribbean superstar Chris Gayle is ahead of them in the list with 22 tons to his name.
The latest loss means that Azam’s Zalmi are placed fourth in the PSL standings with four victories and defeats each in eight games. With 343 runs at an average of 49 and strike rate of 140, Azam is third in the list of highest run-scorers in the PSL currently.
Fans divided after the comments of Simon Doull regarding Babar Azam
Some fans said the comments were uncalled for, while others believe Doull was correct and is well within his rights to state his views.
