New Zealand commentator Simon Doull and Pakistan’s Ameer Sohail caught up in quite a tensed exchange while speaking about the 3rd T20I between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The topic between the commentators was about Babar Azam’s strike rate as well as average.
As we all know Pakistan have had a tough time against Afghanistan in the 3-match T20 series at UAE. The Green brigade were playing with a new look team filled with youngsters and those who shone during PSL 2023. Shadab Khan was the Captain of the young squad but they were handed with a 2-1 series defeat.
Aamer Sohail and Simon Doull during commentary. Average vs strike-rate 🔥🔥 #AFGvPAK pic.twitter.com/bQuqUtjjrb
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) March 27, 2023
And during the final ODI, Simon Doull and Ameer Sohail got into a very serious discussion when the former said that Saim Ayub should be the one opening alongside Haris instead of Babar Azam. Simon Doull said so because of Azam’s low strike-rate and it got Ameer Sohail agitated.
“Babar Azam is hands down the best #3 batsman in the world. He should not open for Pakistan. Saim and Haris should open with Rizwan in T20Is.”
https://youtu.be/IMXmlqvlpFo
Sohail replied to Doull that he is someone who believes in averages and not strike rates. He further reminded the Kiwi that even the bests of the game did not have a mind boggling strike rate. “The T20 teams are selected on the basis of averages and not strike-rates. The averages are more important than strike-rates,” Sohail replied.
Ameer then said that Chris Gayle and even AB De Villiers had a strike rate less than 140. “I don’t care about the strike rate, I look for the average. If you talk about the best players in T20I like Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers, what is the strike rate between 135 and 137?”
To which Doull replied by reminding Sohail that Gayle goes with a strike rate of 158 and De Villers has about 145.
