Babar returns to Pakistan, unavailable for BBL Finals Week as he brings his rather underwhelming season to a close.
Babar Azam to miss remainder of BBL finals, set to return to Pakistan for team camp.
The Sydney Sixers announced that Babar Azam had to return to Pakistan for a national team camp, hence he won’t play in the remaining BBL finals.
The announcement was made on Thursday, just over twenty-four hours before the Sixers’ Challenger final against the Hobart Hurricanes at the SCG. The winner will face the Perth Scorchers on Sunday in the BBL final in Perth.
Babar was not chosen for Pakistan’s three-match Twenty20 International series against Sri Lanka in early January, despite initially being available for the entire competition. Starting on January 29, Australia will play Pakistan in three Twenty20 Internationals. However, all of Australia’s squad members who are still playing in the BBL will stay with their BBL teams until the final.
“The Sydney Sixers have today been informed that Sixers opener Babar Azam is required to return to Pakistan to join his national teammates in camp, as preparations commence for upcoming international matches,” the statement said.
“As a result, Babar will depart Australia immediately and will not be available for selection for the remainder of the BBL|15 Finals Series.”
Sixers general manager Rachael Haynes confirmed that they had initially planned for Babar to play the entire tournament.
“The Sydney Sixers are sincerely grateful for the opportunity to have had Babar represent the club during his time in Australia,” Haynes said in a statement.
“While we had initially planned for Babar to be available throughout the Finals, he has been an immensely valued member of our group, and we fully understand that the commencement of Pakistan’s national camp means preparations are now underway for upcoming matches.”
Henriques added that it was he and Sixers coach Greg Shipperd who took the lead role in talking to Babar. “[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.”
Despite scoring two half-centuries, he ends his first season in the BBL with 202 runs from 11 games, averaging 22.44 and striking at just 103.06. Babar was optimistic about his stay in Sydney despite having a challenging season at bat.