It was the culmination of an astonishing turnaround for Babar as captain after he had captained Zalmi to their most miserable campaign last season when they missed out on a playoff berth for the first time in their ten-year history. Babar had remained trophy-less despite captaining in the PSL since the start of 2022 and leading Pakistan to numerous ICC and ACC tournaments. But, as fate would have it, Babar led Zalmi to their second PSL title in what was his first PSL final as captain.

“I have a firm belief that you get what is destined for you,” Babar said with the PSL’s “infinity” trophy placed next to him after the final. “It can take some time or come to you quickly, but one should remain grateful to the almighty.”

While Babar’s on-field tactics have attracted scrutiny, he has won admirers around the world because of his batting. But as Babar’s form slumped in international cricket, he also lost his touch in the PSL and had a torrid last season. He scored only 288 runs in ten matches, which was the lowest he had scored in an edition since 2016 when he played only two matches.

No other batter has dominated the PSL as Babar has: he is the only one to have breached the 4000-run mark in its history. So PSL 2025 made many wonder whether he was past his prime in the format. That he scored a paltry 91 runs across six innings in the recent T20 World Cup made the feeling stronger.

“My focus is on all three formats. I feel a batter should play all cricket and should not limit himself to white-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket teaches you the art of batting long and instils patience in you. It helps you to understand how you can score big runs”

Babar Azam

Reflecting on his season with the bat, Babar said, “I was not up to my own expectations, but it is normal for a batter to struggle with his execution. You have to take a few steps back and assess where you are going wrong and correct it. You need support in such times, and my family and close friends kept me motivated. I discussed the areas of improvement with the coaches who are close to me and worked on them.

“Life is like a rollercoaster, and things never stay the same. You learn from your good and bad experiences. That is how life goes.”

Now that he has stamped his authority in the format again, Babar can confidently claim he is good enough for all cricket. “I know what you are trying to ask,” Babar replied when he was asked whether he would continue to play all three formats. “My focus is on all three formats. I feel a batter should play all cricket and should not limit himself to white-ball cricket. Red-ball cricket teaches you the art of batting long and instils patience in you. It helps you to understand how you can score big runs. And all the learnings from the red-ball game help you in white-ball cricket.”

“The loss of four early wickets put pressure on the dugout,” Babar said. “But Hardie and Samad played sensibly and their partnership was crucial for us. They did not go for the attack, rather built the partnership and played their natural game once they were set…

“[Before the final] we all said that we could do it because we have had a great tournament. But we knew we had to control our nerves. Sometimes, as a player, you try to overdo things on these occasions and end up making a mistake. We had an experienced bunch in foreign players, and they all spoke about the necessity of staying cool and calm and executing our plans.”