{"id":10499,"date":"2026-01-22T11:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T05:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=682626"},"modified":"2026-01-31T18:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T13:09:51","slug":"heres-why-babar-azam-is-not-available-for-sydney-sixers-for-the-remainder-of-the-bbl15-finals-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/cricket\/bbl\/heres-why-babar-azam-is-not-available-for-sydney-sixers-for-the-remainder-of-the-bbl15-finals-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s why Babar Azam is not available for Sydney Sixers for the remainder of the BBL15 finals series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan batter Babar Azam will not be available for the Sydney Sixers for the remainder of the Big Bash League 2024\u201325 season after being recalled to Pakistan\u2019s national camp ahead of upcoming international fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>The Sydney Sixers confirmed that Babar has been released from the squad as part of his national commitments, which makes him unavailable for the BBL15 finals series. The decision is linked to Pakistan\u2019s international calendar, with the national selectors calling the senior batter back to prepare for forthcoming assignments.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you, Babar \ud83d\udc51<\/p>\n<p>Babar Azam has been recalled to join Pakistan\u2019s national camp ahead of upcoming international fixtures.<\/p>\n<p>He will be unavailable for the remainder of the BBL|15 Finals Series.<\/p>\n<p>More info at <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XFOTpJiF9I\">https:\/\/t.co\/XFOTpJiF9I<\/a> \ud83d\udcf2 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/EOaLKZlLG0\">pic.twitter.com\/EOaLKZlLG0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Sydney Sixers (@SixersBBL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SixersBBL\/status\/2014201620368912726?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Babar joined the Sixers as one of the league\u2019s marquee overseas signings and featured in the latter part of the season. While his presence added star value to the squad, his availability was always subject to clearance from the Pakistan Cricket Board, particularly with international matches scheduled during the business end of the tournament.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Babar Azam will return to Pakistan to commence preparations for upcoming international matches.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BBL15?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BBL15<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bH5cGRfjh8\">pic.twitter.com\/bH5cGRfjh8<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BBL\/status\/2014202003497582616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 22, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In recent days, there has also been speculation on social media around Babar\u2019s equation with Australian batter Steve Smith following a high-profile on-field moment earlier in the season. However, there has been no official statement from either player or the Sydney Sixers suggesting any dispute or disagreement. Team management has not linked Babar\u2019s departure to any internal issue, and the recall has been communicated as a routine national call-up.<\/p>\n<p>Sources close to the franchise indicate that the move was anticipated, given Pakistan\u2019s international schedule, and was not influenced by dressing-room dynamics or individual relationships. Any suggestion of tension remains speculative and unsupported by official confirmation.<\/p>\n<p>With Babar unavailable, the Sydney Sixers will now move forward into the finals phase without the Pakistan star, reshaping their batting plans as they aim for another Big Bash title. Babar, meanwhile, is set to shift focus back to international cricket as Pakistan prepare for their next series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistan batter Babar Azam will not be available for the Sydney Sixers for the remainder of the Big Bash League\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":437,"featured_media":32977,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4644],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bbl"],"reading_time":"2 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/437"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10499"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43378,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10499\/revisions\/43378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}