'ZimBabar' - Does Babar Azam Perform Only Against Zimbabwe? Is The Nickname Justified?

Babar Azam [X]

Cricket has continuously evolved since its inception. The game has been graced by some great players throughout history. Players like Sunil Gavaskar, Zaheer Abbas, Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, etc., have each graced the game at different eras and have played according to the demands of the game at that period. 

When speaking about the game in the modern era, prominent names include Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe Root. One more name in this galaxy of stars is Babar Azam. He has been an integral part and leader of Pakistan's batting in recent times. 

However, his critics have often pointed out that the majority of Babar Azam's runs have come against weaker opponents. The name of Zimbabwe is often linked with the runs scored by Babar Azam, and the cricketer has rather derogatorily been nicknamed   'ZimBabar'.

In this article, we will analyse Babar Azam's performance against all the opponents and determine whether the nickname makes any sense at all. 

Babar Azam vs various opponents in T20Is

Here we will take a look at the teams against whom Babar has batted in more than five innings.

Conclusion

The figures show us that if T20Is are considered then - 

• He has not played the most games against Zimbabwe. Infact, Babar Azam has played the second least number of games against Zimbabwe in his career. 
• He has the most number of runs against New Zealand. 
• His best strike rate is against South Africa. 
• Babar Azam has the best T20I average against Australia. 

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Babar Azam Career

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Babar Azam vs various opponents in ODIs

In this case also we will consider the opponents against whom Babar Azam has played more than five innings. 

Conclusion

In case of ODIs, we can say that - 

• He has the best average against Zimbabwe. But one must also note that he has also played the second least number of games against them. Yes, he enjoys the Zimbabwean bowling in this format. But that does not mean that he has scored his majority runs against them. 
• Babar Azam has the most number of ODI runs against New Zealand. 
• His average against West Indies, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Australia is over 50. Which shows that he has scored runs in great volumes against decent to good bowling attacks of his era. 

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Babar Azam Records

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Babar Azam vs various opponents in Tests

Conclusion

When it comes to Test cricket, then - 

• Babar Azam has played just one game against Zimbabwe. So, there is no question of him bullying them in this format.
• In Test cricket has done well against England having an average of over 60. Besides England, he seems to have been pretty consistent against Sir Lanka and New Zealand. 

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Overall Conclusion

So, when we see Babar Azam's performance in the three formats, we can see that in the limited overs, he has done pretty well against higher-ranked teams like - Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand. Though he has an unreal average against Zimbabwe in the ODI format, one cannot call him only a Zimbabwe bully, watching his performance against other nations and the sample size against the African nation. 

One must remember that Babar Azam is one of the mainstays of Pakistan batting. He comes out with a lot of expectations each time. So, whenever he fails to deliver as per the expectations, his fans and followers get disappointed; hence, this kind of nickname is given. However, when it comes to his overall performances, Babar Azam has done well against a lot of decent or above-average bowling attacks and the name 'ZimBabar' seems baseless on that ground.

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