Last Updated on 3 months ago by Charbel Coorey

Pakistan batter Babar Azam was visibly quite upset after his Sydney Sixers opening partner Steve Smith denied him a single on the final ball of the 11th over to keep strike for the first over of the Power Surge against Sydney Thunder.

Sixers skipper Moises Henriques has now revealed that it took a couple of days for the former Pakistani captain to “settle down.”

Speaking to Fox Cricket during the Qualifier bout against Perth Scorchers, Henriques put the situation down to cultural differences, adding that Azam was “absolutely fine” after it was explained to him that it’s a pretty normal thing in the Aussie cricket ecosystem.

Moises Henriques reveals discussions after Babar Azam was denied a single

Henriques revealed that he and head coach Greg Shipperd took it upon themselves to talk to Babar Azam. After the Pakistani international got to terms with it, he and Smith are back to being “friendly” again, according to the Sixers skipper.

“It took a couple of days for that to settle down. To be honest, think it’s just a bit of misunderstanding of culture of each other. It’s a pretty common thing in our culture, and maybe for [Babar], he wasn’t used to it and didn’t quite understand. Once it was explained to him, he was absolutely fine. They’ve kissed and made up, and it’s two of the greats back friendly again,” Henriques revealed.

“[We are] always trying to understand… We could visibly see he was quite upset with what happened on the field, so we needed to try and understand why he felt that way. Once we got to the bottom of it, it was okay,” he added.

Check out Moises Henriques’ comments below:

Smith vindicated his call to turn down the single, as he went on to smash 32 runs in the following over. He was again reluctant to run a second on the final delivery of the 12th over but eventually decided to go for it. But it also meant that Azam’s stay at the crease came to an end, as he edged the ball onto his stumps on the first delivery of the next over following an attempted heave across the line.

He showed clear frustration as he headed to the dressing room and apparently stayed there even as players interacted with each other on the field after the conclusion of the match.

Meanwhile, Azam was dismissed for a two-ball duck in Tuesday’s Qualifier against the Scorchers. The Sixers failed to chase down 148 and were dismissed for 99, with Smith top scoring with a 24-ball 37.