Babar Azam will miss the rest of the Big Bash League as the Sydney Sixers announced on Thursday that their opener has been called back to Pakistan for a national team camp ahead of a T20I series against Australia next week.
THE announcement came just ahead of the Sixers’ challenger final against the Hobart Hurricanes today, with the winner facing the Perth Scorchers in the BBL final in Perth on Sunday.
Babar thanked his team and coaches in a video message shared by the Sydney Sixers and BBL on social media.
“I have enjoyed my time here very much and unfortunately I will be leaving the team because of my national duty,” he said. “I have a lot of things to take home.”
Pakistan are yet to announce their squad for the three-match series against Australia which begins on January 29 in Lahore. The series will serve as a warm-up for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next month.
So far, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has not issued a statement on Babar’s recall.
According to CricinfoBabar was initially available for the entire tournament and was not selected in Pakistan’s three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Sixers general manager Rachael Haynes confirmed that they had initially planned for Babar to play the entire tournament and were “sincerely grateful for the opportunity to have Babar represent the club during his time in Australia”.
All Australian team members still involved in the BBL will remain with their BBL teams until after the final on January 25, with the remainder of the squad flying to the UAE for a pre-tour camp on January 24.
The news comes just two days after Sixers captain Moises Henriques revealed it took “a few days” for Babar to settle after being “pretty upset” about Steven Smith denying him a single against Sydney Thunder. Cricinfo reported.
Cricket Australia reported This commentator and former Australian slugger Mark Waugh called on the Sixers to drop Babar during his speech on Fox cricket ahead of Wednesday’s Hurricanes-Stars single-elimination game.
“Unfortunately, I’m going to have to drop Babar Azam. I don’t think he’s done enough at the top of the order.
“I know he’s world class, but you look at winning this tournament, and so far he just hasn’t done (enough),” Waugh said, as quoted by Cricket Australia. “I’m thinking of a new opening.”
Babar ends his first stint in the BBL with 202 runs from 11 matches, averaging 22.44 and scoring just 103.06 despite two half-centuries, according to Cricinfo.
