“Jada toh Zimbabwe ke sath tour pasand hai but Big Bash Bol Deta Hun” – Twitter erupts as Babar Azam picks BBL ahead of IPL

Pakistan captain Babar Azam, who is leading Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL 2023), has picked the Big Bash League (BBL) over the Indian Premier League (IPL) while comparing the quality of the two competitions.

In a clip shared by Cricket Pakistan on Twitter, Babar said he likes BBL more than IPL. He has played for the Sydney Sixers in the BBL.

Watch the video below:

Babar Azam’s video went viral on the micro-blogging platform and garnered mixed reactions from the Twitterati.

One fan wrote on Twitter:

“Jada toh Zimbabwe ke sath tour pasand hai but Big Bash Bol Deta Hun. (I like Zimbabwe tour the most, but let’s pick BBL [among the options available].”

Another user tweeted:

“Why would he ever pick a league that doesn't even allow players from his country to participate?”

Here are some of the other best Twitter reactions:

Babar Azam’s teammate Mohammad Rizwan explains why he thinks PSL is tougher than IPL

This is not the first time a Pakistan cricketer has chosen another T20 league over the IPL. In December, Mohammad Rizwan picked PSL as a tougher league than the IPL.

Speaking during a media interaction, Rizwan said:

"PSL has created a lot of stir in the world of cricket. A lot of quality foreign players feel PSL is the toughest league in the league. A lot of experienced overseas players also feel the same. Even a good player in the T20 league is benched at times.”

While Sam Curran emerged as the costliest player at Rs 18.25 crore for IPL 2023, Babar Azam was the costliest PSL player at Rs 1.23 crore (PKR 3.6 lakh).

Pakistan players have been banned from the IPL since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. They only participated in the inaugural edition of the tournament. Since then, the majority of Pakistani players have taken part in the BBL among other overseas leagues.

Meanwhile, Babar Azam’s Peshawar Zalmi and Mohammed Rizwan’s Multan Sultans have qualified for the PSL 2023 playoffs. While Sultans are locking horns against Lahore Qalandars in Qualifier 1 today, Zalmi will face off against Islamabad United in Eliminator 1.