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A frustrated Babar Azam hits the boundary cushion on the way out after his dismissal. (Screengrabs: X/Big Bash League)
With a bit of on-field tiff between Steve Smith and Babar Azam last week during Sydney Sixers match against Sydney Thunder that involved the Australian batter turning down a single off the Pakistan opener, captain Moises Henriques shed more light on the incident. Henriques said while Babar was upset at first, it was sorted eventually, adding that the incident happened due to the ‘misunderstanding of culture of each other’.
“It took a couple of days for that to settle down. 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,” Henriques said.
“(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,” he added.
“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
Last week, Babar looked visibly annoyed when Steve Smith chose to keep strike, denying him a single before the power surge. Off the last ball in an over he had played a few dot balls, the Pakistan star hit the ball to long-on, but Smith refused to run. Next over, Smith smashed four sixes and marauded 32 runs from it, the highest even in the BBL. Off the first ball of the next over, Babar got out, smashing the advertising cushioning on the boundary en route to retreating into his dressing room.
Smith later admitted that Babar wasn’t “too happy” with the decision but explained his choice was tactical — to take the Power Surge at the optimal time and that he wanted to keep the strike to target the shorter boundaries.
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