Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques has revealed that it took the team management a few days to resolve a “misunderstanding” between Babar Azam and Steve Smith following a disallowed single in their Big Bash League (BBL) match against Sydney Thunder last week.
The incident occurred during the final delivery of the 11th over when Smith turned down a single offered by Babar to ensure he would be on strike for the Power Surge – a tactical phase where only two fielders are allowed out of the circle.
Henriques said the incident was a result of the cultural difference between Australian and Pakistani players.
“It took a few days for it to stabilise,” Henriques said during the qualifying final against the Perth Scorchers. “To be honest, I think it’s just a little misunderstanding about everyone’s culture.”
“It’s a pretty common thing in our culture, and maybe for him (Babar), he wasn’t used to it and didn’t understand it very well. Once it was explained to him, he was totally fine. They kissed and made up and they were two of the greats friends again.”
Smith reportedly informed Babar earlier that he intended to take the first ball of the push during the match. Babar, who was dismissed for 47 off 39 balls, seemed visibly unhappy with the decision.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Smith said the captain and coach told him to take the ten-point Power Surge.
“I was like, ‘No, give it one. I want to get to the short limit. I don’t want to waste the first one. I’ll try to get 30.’ [I] I think we got 32, so that was a good result. I’m not sure Babar will be very happy with me withdrawing this single,” he added.
Meanwhile, Henriques said head coach Greg Shipperd played the lead role in discussions with Babar.
“[We are] I was still trying to understand… we could visibly see that he was very upset about what happened on the field, so we had to try to understand why he felt that way. Once we got to the bottom of it, everything went well.”
It is pertinent to mention that Babar, who was directly recruited by the Sixers for BBL 15, has struggled in the ongoing tournament as he has so far managed to accumulate 202 runs in 11 innings at a modest average of 22.44 and a dismal strike rate of 103.06.
