Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques has revealed that it took the team management a couple of days to resolve a “misunderstanding” between Babar Azam and Steve Smith following a denied single during their Big Bash League (BBL) match against Sydney Thunder last week.
The incident occurred on the final delivery of the 11th over when Smith rejected a single offered by Babar to ensure that he would be on strike for the Power Surge, a tactical phase in which only two fielders are allowed outside the circle.
Henriques said the incident was a result of the cultural difference between the Australian and Pakistani players.
“It took a couple of days for that to settle down,” Henriques said during the Qualifier final against Perth Scorchers. “To be honest, I think it’s just a misunderstanding of one’s culture.”
“It’s quite common in our culture, and maybe he (Babar) wasn’t used to it and didn’t fully understand it. Once it was explained to him, it was absolutely fine. They kissed, made up, and the big two were friends again.”
Smith had reportedly informed Babar earlier that he intended to take the first ball of the surge during the game. Babar, who was dismissed for 47 off 39 balls, looked visibly unhappy with the decision.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Smith said the captain and coach had told him to take the Power Surge at the ten-over mark.
“I was like, ‘No, give it an over. I want to hit the short boundary. I don’t want to mess up the first over. I’ll try to get 30 off that over.’ [I] I think we got 32, so that was a good result. “I’m not sure Babar was very happy with me playing that single,” he added.
Meanwhile, Henriques said head coach Greg Shipperd took the lead role in speaking with Babar.
“[We are] Always trying to understand… we could visibly see that he was quite upset with what happened on the field, so we needed to try to understand why he felt that way. “Once we got to the bottom of it, everything was fine.”
It is pertinent to mention that Babar, who was signed directly by the Sixers for the BBL 15, has been struggling in the ongoing tournament as he has so far managed to amass 202 runs in 11 innings at a modest average of 22.44 and a dismal strike rate of 103.06.
