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"Pretty surreal": Sixers' players react to arrival of Babar Azam
Sam Kosack • December 10th, 2025 5:06 pm
The Sydney Sixers’ new signing, Babar Azam, is the talk of the Big Bash, with both fans and teammates alike ecstatic to see the Pakistani gun take the field.
Azam will play his first game in the Big Bash on Sunday when the Sixers take on the Perth Scorchers in the opening game of BBL15 and is arguably the biggest signing in franchise history given his stature in the international game.
The presence of Azam has lit up social media, with the comment section of every Sixers’ post flooded with love for the Pakistani great.
Sixers’ captain Moises Henrqiues has enjoyed an almost 20-year long career across all formats both internationally and domestically, but surprisingly, this is the first time the veteran all-rounder will cross paths with the Pakistani superstar.
“About 10 minutes ago, it was the first time I'd met him,” Henriques revealed.
“It was strange because he's obviously been playing international cricket for a long time and I've been around for a long time… it was literally the first time I've ever met him.
“I've heard really good reports, which is why we were pretty active in getting him to the club, so I'm looking forward to working with him over the next seven or eight weeks and learning from him and what he does.
“I think it'll be more so a question of what do you need from us and how can we help, rather than me telling him how to fit in.”
For Hayden Kerr, the opportunity to play with Azam was one that the 30-year-old could barely contain his excitement towards.
Azam has amassed 4429 T20I runs, the most of any player in history.
Asked what he was most looking forward to about playing with Azam, Kerr was pumped for “everything”.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Kerr said.
“Having that international experience is one thing and then watching him play on the field is another.
“It’s going to be pretty surreal standing next to him out in the field. I’m not sure how that’s going to sit with me.
“I probably won’t say too much to him and let him go about his business. It’ll be really good to watch.”
The Sixers have tapped into the appeal and attention, launching ‘Babaristan’, a South Asian festive seating bay at the SCG dedicated to Azam which has already sold out for the first match.
Veteran batter Jordan Silk has played over 135 matches for the Sixers in the Big Bash, seeing plenty of crowds along the way, but even he’s not sure what to expect at their first home game.
“It's hard to know without actually having done it yet,” Silk said.
“I'm expecting it's going to drag another 5- to 10,000 possible fans through the gates, and that's going to be awesome.
“We've played some big Sydney derbies and sort of played in front of 40,000 there, and it's electric so I expect it to be somewhat along those lines.
“(I’m) really looking forward to getting back to the SCG and seeing what sort of crowd that we can pull in now that we've got a pretty big draw card.”
The Sixers will also be boosted by the arrival of veteran fast bowler Kane Richardson from the Melbourne Renegades.
Having taken over 140 BBL wickets, Richardson sits fourth all-time for most wickets in the BBL, and joins a bowling line-up featuring Sean Abbott and Ben Dwarshius, who sit first and third on the leaderboard respectively.
Richardson also joins spin bowler Todd Murphy in the attack, while Mitchell Starc and international Sam Curran will also be available later in the tournament.
Henriques praised the experience of the trio of Richardson, Curran, and Azam, particularly in the back end of the competition where the side have struggled in previous years.
“I know Kane (Richardson) pretty well and I'm very excited to get him working with a lot of our bowlers,” Henriques said.
“For however long he's been one of the best defensive bowlers in the game and it's probably been the one skill for us that we've started to improve the last two or three years but in terms of surge bowling, we're definitely not the best team.
“He's bowled a lot of those tough overs, so it'll be interesting to pick his brain about his experience in those moments.
“And then Sam Curran as well who's coming for the back end of the season, so… all of our internationals are available for at least the second half and onwards, which has been different to how we've done things in the past.
“Now for us, we've got to get to the finals and make sure that we have a chance to use that experience and knowledge.”
