Babar Azam and Steve Smith’s controversy escalated from the cricket field to the dressing room; however, Sydney Sixers skipper Moises Henriques has now given a clear insight into the issue and cited the difference in cultures of the two countries as the main reason for the misunderstanding.
The Pakistani cricket veteran Babar Azam made his debut for the Sydney Sixers in this edition of the Big Bash League and later got an absolutely great opportunity to open the innings alongside the Australian veteran Steve Smith.
Smith, on the other hand, is a true legend of the game as well as the BBL. He has played for the Sydney Sixers and is the highest scorer for them in 9 of their last 11 matches. This season of the BBL, Smith has averaged over 83 in the Big Bash and has been in some sublime touch.
Steve Smith and Babar Azam’s BBL controversy decoded by Sydney Sixers skipper
A major controversy started when Steve Smith and Babar Azam batted in a partnership for the first time against the Sydney Thunder, and Smith denied Babar Azam’s call for a single in the last ball of the 11th over of the game.
Instead, Smith had some plans, as he was the heavy striker in the game and hence, wanted to keep the strike with a Power Surge call, which marks a 2-over powerplay to the batting team in the BBL. Smith scored 32 runs in the 12th over of the game.
However, Babar Azam felt insulted by Smith denying him the single and looked visibly frustrated as he left the field after being dismissed on the first ball of the 13th over. He also said in the dressing room that he was not happy with the way the Australian veteran treated him.
The controversy took a major toll on the Sydney Sixers; however, Smith continued to score runs from his end. Moises Henriques has now revealed that it was just a misunderstanding between the two players who belong to different cultures.
“It took a couple of days for that to settle down,” Henriques told Fox Cricket. “To be honest, think it’s just a bit of a misunderstanding of culture of each other.”
“It’s a pretty common thing in our culture, and maybe for him (Babar) he wasn’t used to it and didn’t quite understand. Once it was explained to him he was absolutely fine. They’ve kissed and made up and it’s two of the greats back friendly again.”
“[We are] always trying to understand…we could visibly see he was quite upset with what happened on the field, so we needed to try and understand why he felt that way. Once we got to the bottom of it, it was okay.”
“Two of the greats, back friendly again.”
Moises Henriques explains the situation between Babar Azam and Steve Smith at the SCG. #BBL15 pic.twitter.com/vcUj6m4XrD
— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) January 20, 2026
Babar Azam scores his first duck in the BBL
Babar Azam made his debut in the BBL and did not have the finest of seasons from a batter’s perspective. Babar made a poor start to the tournament with single-digit scores and then broke shackles to score his maiden BBL half-century.
Going into the crucial game in the Qualifier when it mattered the most, Babar Azam was dismissed for a duck, that too in a very humiliating fashion. Cooper Connolly dismissed the veteran batter for a duck with a sharp stumping from Josh Inglis.
Before this game, Azam had managed just 202 runs with an average of 22.44 and a strike rate of less than 105. His form has been tremendously bad, and the Sixers could possibly be considering dropping him in the remainder of the knockout games for them.
Sydney Sixers mounted hopes on Steve Smith for a spot in the Final
The Sydney Sixers started winning games with domination as Steve Smith returned to play for the franchise after the end of the Ashes series. They replaced the Hobart Hurricanes at no. 2 and qualified for the Qualifier against the Perth Scorchers.
The Scorchers and Sixers are playing the Qualifier at the Optus Stadium in Perth, and the team winning gets to the Final and also gets to host it on their home ground. The Scorchers were limited to a small score; however, the Sixers faced massive struggles chasing it.
After the disappointing show put on by all the batters, the responsibility lay with Steve Smith, who was batting flawlessly at the top. However, Smith succumbed to the pressure building from the fall of wickets from the other end and was dismissed for 37, which ended the hopes for the Sixers.
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