Steve Smith of Sydney Sixers is congratulated by his teammate Babar Azam after finishing his half-century (50 runs) throughout the BBL match between Sydney Sixers and Sydney Thunder on the Sydney Cricket Floor, on January 16, 2026, in Sydney, Australia. — AFP
Sydney Sixers captain Moises Henriques has revealed it took workforce administration a few days to resolve a “misunderstanding” between Babar Azam and Steve Smith following a denied single throughout their Massive Bash League (BBL) sport in opposition to Sydney Thunder final week.
The incident occurred on the ultimate supply of the eleventh over when Smith declined a single supplied by Babar to make sure he can be on strike for the Energy Surge — a tactical part the place solely two fielders are allowed outdoors the circle.
Henriques mentioned that the incident was a results of the cultural distinction between Australian and Pakistani gamers.
“It took a couple of days for that to settle down,” Henriques mentioned throughout the Qualifier last in opposition to Perth Scorchers. “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.”
Smith had reportedly knowledgeable Babar an over earlier that he meant to take the primary ball of the surge throughout the sport. Babar, who was dismissed for 47 off 39 balls, appeared visibly sad with the choice.
Talking throughout the post-match presentation, Smith mentioned that the captain and coach had advised him to take the Energy Surge on the ten-over mark.
“I was like, ‘Nah, give it one over. I want to hit to the short boundary. I don’t want to screw up the first over. I’ll try to get 30 off that over’. [I] think we got 32, so it was a good result. Not sure Babar was too happy with me knocking back that single,” he added.
In the meantime, Henriques mentioned that head coach Greg Shipperd took the lead position in speaking to Babar.
“[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.”
It’s pertinent to say that Babar, who was roped in as a direct signing by the Sixers for the BBL 15, has been struggling within the ongoing match as he has so far managed to build up 202 runs in 11 innings at a modest common of twenty-two.44 and a dismal strike price of 103.06.
