On Friday, January 16, during the Sydney derby in the Big Bash League (BBL), Steve Smith denied Babar Azam a single. For the Power Surge, the former desired to maintain the strike. The cricket community is on fire over the former Australian captain’s action.
In the eleventh over, Babar was batting in the forties with a strike rate of about 120. Smith refused to give him a single, which infuriated the former captain of Pakistan. However, Smith made full use of the field limits in the Power Surge, smashing 32 runs in the next over, so the move paid off. Despite getting the strike in the thirteenth over, Babar was dismissed on the opening ball. To vent his frustration, he even struck the boundary cushion with his bat.
Kamran Akmal claimed that Smith disregarded Babar by declining the song during a debate on Basit Ali’s YouTube channel. According to the former wicketkeeper, Smith ought to have told Babar Azam in advance even if he wasn’t interested in taking the run. If the Sydney Sixers are unsure of the talismanic Pakistani batter’s skills, Akmal even recommended that they bench him.
“This was not supposed to occur. Smith hit a fast hundred, I know. He may have said, “Don’t take a single,” to Babar Azam prior to the ball.
Not in this manner. This is disrespectful. Drop Babar Azam if the Sydney Sixers aren’t satisfied with him. Don’t treat him disrespectfully like this. Just make him sit out. Don’t do this, though,” Akmal advised.
But in the next over, when he took Ryan Hadley to the dry cleaners, Ali claimed that Smith’s strategy had succeeded. Smith declined the single because of Babar’s previous reputation, the cricketer-turned-expert said, adding that he would never have dared to do the same thing if he had been batting with Virat Kohli.
The next over, Smith proved it. I thought he was going to knock six sixes in that over at one point. Yes, he did respond to it. Steve Smith would have been a better single if Virat Kohli had chosen to take this one like Babar Azam! Smith’s father would have agreed to it as well. Basit remarked. “Your game has diminished your own worth. This does not reflect poorly on Pakistan. Those who say that are idiots. Although the Pakistan Cricket Board did not send Babar, he accepted an invitation to play in the Big Bash, according to Basit Ali.
Babar’s T20 strike rate has been terrible thus far. The right-handed batter has amassed 201 runs from nine games in the BBL 2025–26 season, with a strike-rate of 107.48.
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