Is Babar Azam overrated?

[Malcolm Merlyn]

If you listen to commies from pakistan they talk up Azam as the next big batsman in world cricket after the Fab 4.

 

He is being touted the same way experts talked about Tendulkar Lara Kohli etc.

 

Yet his test record is very avg. One century outside Asia.

 

He is a very good white ball player though. World class.

[Ankit_sharma03]

he is bloody good...no one knws where he ll end. So either side of the coins shud hold on to their thoughts 

[Number]

He is enroute Taylor, Elgar, Faf Du Plesis (2 year ago) and Warner's league of good (but not great) test batsman as of now.

He has time and should have some of the defining knocks to move to next level.

[Clarke]

Not looked up the numbers, I rate Rizwan as their clutch player. 

[Serpico]

14 minutes ago, Malcolm Merlyn said:

If you listen to commies from pakistan they talk up Azam as the next big batsman in world cricket after the Fab 4.

 

He is being touted the same way experts talked about Tendulkar Lara Kohli etc.

 

Yet his test record is very avg. One century outside Asia.

 

He is a very good white ball player though. World class.

I don't think anyone is saying he is already in their class. people talk about potential when a young player is playing well. experts were predicting that smith/kohli/root will end up as best batsmen of this era at a similar stage where they played around 30 tests and made ~6 centuries, now its happening for Babar. He may or may not reach that level but the current hype he gets isn't undeserved

[ShoonyaSifar]

He is where Kohli was around the 2014 Eng tour. Top class in LOIs but only above average in Tests. Kohli then had a monster series in Aus in 2014-15 and took his Test batting to the next level. Azam will need something similar.

 

However, one key difference between a young Kohli and Azam is their FC record. Kohli always had a very good FC stats and piled lots of runs for India A. Azam even now has a average FC record at best. Which may mean him not becoming a batsman with 50+ test average

[sage]

Very good player but no where near Fab 4

[SK_IH]

There is a dedicated campaign by PCB to build his image on social media platforms. So far he has achieved nothing in terms of superlative batting performance but he is exalted to elite club. So far in his test career, he is a one innings batsman, need something more than that.

He is a talented stroke player, very good to watch but long way to reach those insane levels. His T20 numbers should be read in right perspective. I think he has potential to be Pakistan's finest ODI batsman though.

[Straight Drive]

There are many players with test batting average of 44. Too much over hyped. Good player but nowhere near great.

[New guy]

49 minutes ago, SK_IH said:

There is a dedicated campaign by PCB to build his image on social media platforms. So far he has achieved nothing in terms of superlative batting performance but he is exalted to elite club. So far in his test career, he is a one innings batsman, need something more than that.

He is a talented stroke player, very good to watch but long way to reach those insane levels. His T20 numbers should be read in right perspective. I think he has potential to be Pakistan's finest ODI batsman though.

As people above said, this was exactly what was done with Kohli and Root too, by their hoards and media m, at similar stages of their career so cannot fault PCB 

[New guy]

27 minutes ago, Straight Drive said:

There are many players with test batting average of 44. Too much over hyped. Good player but nowhere near great.

What was kohlis average at this stage? Roots average? Neither of them had 50 average but both were hyped up based on potential, which is what people are doing with Azam

Edited February 13, 2021 by New guy

[jusarrived]

1 hour ago, ShoonyaSifar said:

He is where Kohli was around the 2014 Eng tour. Top class in LOIs but only above average in Tests. Kohli then had a monster series in Aus in 2014-15 and took his Test batting to the next level. Azam will need something similar.

 

However, one key difference between a young Kohli and Azam is their FC record. Kohli always had a very good FC stats and piled lots of runs for India A. Azam even now has a average FC record at best. Which may mean him not becoming a batsman with 50+ test average

He is no where near where virat at his peak.  Babar has one top notch knock in his LOI career which was in WC against Nz . Otherwise he's just a impact less run accumulator.  I simply don't rate him in Lois irrespective of his stats saying otherwise.  

In Tests though he could potentially surpass Virat and become a pak great, but long way for that 

[Majestic]

He is a little bit soft, still good enough to end up alongside the same level as Inzamam and Yousuf.

[SK_IH]

22 minutes ago, New guy said:

As people above said, this was exactly what was done with Kohli and Root too, by their hoards and media m, at similar stages of their career so cannot fault PCB 

That must be your opinion because he is nowhere either of the two when they were rightfully rated among the best. 

 

[SK_IH]

Most of Babar's hype stems from his attractive stroke play but there is not enough substantial innings. I still remember one match at Centurion where he smashed Steyn for some eye catching boundaries but in the context of the match that was a futile effort.

[express bowling]

Hyping is a good thing if a cricket has genuine potential.

 

First off, it creates fan interest. They will watch the match to watch that cricketer. Praise him if he does well and ridicule him if he does badly, saying that he is being unnecessarily hyped. Both are acceptable reactions to create popularity for the game.

 

Secondly, the player himself may take his game to another level after getting confidence. Some may feel extra pressure too, but those who cannot absorb pressure won't come good anyway.

 

Lastly, young and upcoming cricketers feel enthused if they know that there are super players playing for their country.

 

 

 

 

Edited February 13, 2021 by express bowling

[sage]

1 hour ago, New guy said:

What was kohlis average at this stage? Roots average? Neither of them had 50 average but both were hyped up based on potential, which is what people are doing with Azam

Here are their averages in the original Fab 4 article by Martin Crowe:

 

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/martin-crowe-test-cricket-s-young-fab-four-774705

 

vs Babar Azam, now

 

[AuxiliA]

Jingoistic overrating aside, the hype he gets is deserved. As someone said above, he is at about the same stage as Kohli was in 2014. 

 

But Kohli rose to a whole new level from that point on. Babar needs to do the same before he could be compared to the likes of Kohli (& other Fab4 members). 

[Lone Wolf]

Babar is good but Rizwan is clutch..  But I expect Poyzz to screw at least one of them. 

Rizwan the poor lad is already on a knife edge despite performing coz of the biases & their media is brutal. 

[First class]

Babar missed a great chance of rising his stocks by not scoring tons of runs against South Africa. Had he scored couple of tons, he could have been much closer to the Fab 4, but not close enough at this point.