However, a close look at the statistics of the top five T20I run-getters also gives a clear picture of why Babar was sidelined from the Pakistan T20 side since December 2024, before he was surprisingly recalled for the South Africa series.
The statistics show that Babar has now scored 4,234 runs in 123 matches at an average of 39.57. But the telling figures are his strike rate and the number of sixes hit compared to the others in the list.
Babar has the lowest strike rate 128.77 and the least number of sixes (73) among the top five, which includes Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jos Buttler, and Paul Stirling.
Rohit has a strike rate of 140.89 and has hit 205 sixes in his career. Virat, meanwhile, has a strike rate of 137.04 with 124 sixes. Buttler boasts a strike rate of 148.97 and has smashed 172 sixes, while Ireland’s Stirling maintains a strike rate of 134.86 with 133 sixes.
In T20 cricket, experts often give more importance to strike rates and the ability to hit sixes than to batting averages.
When Babar was first dropped from the T20 side, the reasons given were his inability to maintain a higher strike rate and to find boundaries and sixes in demanding situations.
