Babar Azam’s ODI Form Decline: A Year-By-Year Statistical Analysis

Babar Azam is going through a rough patch [Source: @iamAhmadhaseeb/x.com]

Babar Azam’s name and ODI cricket were once inseparable like bat and ball or cover drive and pure timing. For years, Pakistan’s No. 3 was the gold standard in the format as he piled up hundreds for fun, soaked up pressure and dictated the tempo of an innings like a seasoned conductor.

But the player who once turned 50s into match-winning centuries without breaking a sweat now finds himself in unfamiliar territory. The recent three-ball duck against West Indies in Tarouba was his 20th international duck and stretched a 63-innings century drought across formats. In ODIs, the format he once owned, the numbers have been heading south for two straight years.

From the glory days of 2016–2019, where he averaged in the 60s and converted starts into big hundreds at will, to the peak of 2022 when he looked untouchable, Babar was the heartbeat of Pakistan’s white-ball batting. But since then, the graph has been sliding with fewer hundreds, more 20s and 30s and a strike rate that has lost its bite.

Opposition bowlers have figured out the early-game blueprint against him, the middle overs aren’t yielding the same flow of boundaries and the once-inevitable big innings now feels like a rare guest. The numbers don’t just hint at a slump; they shout it from the rooftops.

Let’s analyse Babar Azam’s recent ODI form.

Babar Azam’s ODI Stats Year By Year

What Babar Azam’s Stats In ODIs Scream:

• 2016–2019 was prime Babar. Tons flowed, averages touched 60+, strike rates were solid.
• 2022 was the last dominant year with three hundreds in nine games at 84.87.
• Post-2022 the dip is clear: in 41 ODIs since, only two hundreds, average down to mid-40s and a strike rate drop.
• 2025 so far? Worst return in a calendar year with just 325 runs at 32.50 and no hundreds.

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Babar Azam Last 10 ODI Innings

What Babar Azam’s Last 10 ODIs Tell:

• Only three fifties in ten innings. No hundreds.
• Multiple scores in the 20–40 range which is proof that he is getting starts but not kicking on.
• The duck against West Indies wasn’t isolated. This year’s strike rate (80.64) shows he is not dictating terms either.

The Worrying Pattern

Conversion Crash: From 2016–22, hundreds came like clockwork. Since Asia Cup 2023, not a single ODI ton.

Tempo Trouble: This year’s SR of 80.64 is far from his 2021–22 tempo of 90+. That middle-overs squeeze is hurting.

Early Vulnerability: Bowlers keep aiming full outside off early. Tarouba showed he is still chasing the big cover drive too soon.

Spin Strangle: Wrist-spinners in the middle overs are locking him up; boundaries have dried up.

What Babar Azam Must Do To Regain His Form?

Delay The Drive: Park the big cover-drive till he is 20+. Start straighter, play late, make the ball beat him, not his hands beat the ball.

Intent In The Powerplay: Pick one scoring zone early (back-foot point to extra or pick up over mid-wicket) and cash risk-free 25–30 without chasing the hero ball.

Middle-Overs Gears: Pre-plan two boundary options per bowler, per spell. Sweep range vs spin, one shimmy option, one release over cover. No more drifting at 70–80 SR.

Role Conversation: If the new ball is a recurring trap, a move to No. 4 for a block of games isn’t sacrilege; it’s problem-solving.

Reps That Matter: A tight ODI block or high-quality List-A tune-up with specific cues (leaving outside off, hitting through mid-on) to rebuild muscle memory.

Conclusion

This is not a passing rough patch, it is a slide that has stretched over two years and counting. The numbers don’t lie: conversion rates are down, strike rates are dipping and the aura that once made Babar untouchable in ODIs has taken a hit. He is still scoring, yes but scoring and dominating are two different games. Right now, he is doing the former without enough of the latter.

For Pakistan, Babar has been the man for all seasons, the one you would bet your house on when chasing under lights or setting up a total on a slow deck. That trust isn’t gone, but it is being tested with every soft 30 and every early dismissal. 

The fix won’t come from hope; it will come from tweaks in approach, sharper intent in the middle overs and getting back to that ruthless habit of turning fifties into hundreds.

Until then, every innings will feel like fans are waiting for the old Babar to walk back out… and that is not the position a player of his calibre should be in!

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