Renowned New Zealand commentator, Simon Doull has quoted an incorrect strike rate for former West Indian cricketer, Chris Gayle, and South African batting great, AB de Villiers.
During the second T20I of the three-match series between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Doull and Aamer Sohail were discussing the strike rate of the all-format captain, Babar Azam.
Aamer said “I don’t care about the strike rate, I look for the average. If you talk about the best players in T20I like Chris Gayle and AB De Villiers, their strike rate is between 135 and 137?”
The New Zealand cricketer commented that Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers have 158 and 145 strikes in T20I cricket, respectively, which Aamer Sohail immediately corrected.
Simon Doull gave his opinion that Babar should not open the innings in T20I and should instead bat at number three. “Saim and Haris should open with Rizwan in T20Is,” he said.
| Batter | Strike Rate | Average |
| Babar Azam | 127.80 | 41.41 |
| Chris Gayle | 137.50 | 27.92 |
| AB de Villiers | 135.16 | 26.12 |
Doull owning Aameer in comms, Aameer was advocating for Babar’s inclusion, Simon Doull asked about the SR of Babar. Aameer said good T20i players like Gayle and ABD have SR of 137. Doull reminded him of Gayle’s SR of 155, and AbD’s 145, and asked the same for Babar:117#AFGvPAK pic.twitter.com/ufTVCCv6px
— Sahil Vashisht (@BhaktRohiratKa) March 26, 2023
It is worth noting that the New Zealand commentator has been in the headlines since he criticized Babar Azam for allowing Mohammad Haris to face the first delivery of Shaheen Afridi in PSL.
Commentating during the match between Zalmi and Gladiators, Doull again remarked on Azam’s performance when he was on 99 runs, saying, “Hundreds are great, stats are brilliant, but the team must always come first.”
