Marcus Stoinis has found himself at the center of an online storm after his on-field exchange with Babar Azam during the Big Bash League (BBL 15) 2025–26 match between Melbourne Stars and Sydney Sixers.
In the hours following the incident, Babar’s supporters poured into the Australian all-rounder’s Instagram, with many of his recent posts filling up with comments such as “King Babar”.
A screenshot shared by fans shows just how intense the reaction has been. One of Stoinis’s posts appears to have attracted more comments than likes, with the comment count crossing 36.4K while likes sit at 28.8K.
The online backlash was triggered by a moment during the 27th match of the tournament at the MCG, where Stoinis deliberately tried to provoke Babar Azam throughout his innings.
Eventually, Stoinis got his wicket and proceeded to celebrate aggressively and was heard saying: “See you later Babar! See you later, brother!”
The reaction online has been loud and not always flattering. One user, commenting on the flood of replies under Stoinis’s posts, wrote: “This Clown Stoinis’s software has been updated successfully by Babar fans. Even though most of us don’t support this behavior, I’m still happy he must have realised that he has messed with the wrong guy.”
