Babar Azam will miss the remainder of the Big Bash League as the Sydney Sixers announced on Thursday that their opener had been recalled 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 Hobart Hurricanes today, with the winner to play 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 very much enjoyed my time here, and unfortunately, I’m going to leave the team because of national duty,” he said. “I have a lot of things to take back home.”
Pakistan has yet to announce its squad for the three-match series with Australia beginning 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 recalling Babar.
According to Cricinfo, Babar had initially been 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 had Babar represent the club during his time in Australia“.
All of Australia’s squad members who are still involved in the BBL will remain with their BBL teams until after the final on Jan 25, with the rest of the squad flying to the UAE for a pre-tour camp on Jan 24.
The news comes just two days after Sixers captain Moises Henriques revealed that it took Babar “a couple of days” to settle after being “quite upset” at Steven Smith denying him a single against Sydney Thunder, Cricinfo reported.
Cricket Australia reported that commentator and former Australian batter Mark Waugh called for the Sixers to drop Babar when speaking on Fox Cricket before Wednesday’s Hurricanes-Stars Knockout match.
“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’re thinking about winning this tournament, and so far he just hasn’t done (enough),” Cricket Australia quoted Waugh as saying. “I’m thinking about a new opener.”
