Babar Azam in BBL 2026: Pakistan's star batsman Babar Azam became the most expensive foreign player for Sydney Sixers in the Big Bash League (BBL) 2025/26. But his debut season in this league was nothing special. He was seen struggling for one run at a time. However, he could not be a part of the entire season due to national duty and left the team before the Challengers Finals. In such a situation, each run of Babar cost the Sydney Sixers team millions.
According to media reports, Babar Azam had received a platinum contract of AUD 420,000 (approximately Rs 2.35 crore) for the Big Bash League, which is considered to be the largest package given to a foreign player in BBL history. This amount was at the upper limit of the platinum category of the league, due to which Babar was burdened with a lot of expectations. But his performance did not live up to expectations.
Babar Azam scored a total of 202 runs in 11 matches for Sydney Sixers. His average was around 22.44 and his strike rate was also 103.06. Two half-centuries were definitely scored, but the rest of the innings were short and very slow. In many matches he got out early or due to slow batting the pressure on the team increased. Looking at this performance the figures are shocking. Babar got approximately Rs 1.26-1.27 lakh (INR) per run. This was disappointing despite their expensive signings in the league, as many other players managed to contribute better for less money.
This season of Babar was also full of controversies. In some matches, questions were raised about the strike rate, and in one incident, news of Steve Smith hitting the boundary rope with his bat for not scoring a run also made headlines. He has now returned for the Pakistan team camp before the finals. Now it remains to be seen what Babar learns from this experience in international cricket and how he returns.
