Home-Track Bully Babar Azam's Form, A Cause Of Concern For Pakistan

Babar has failed in Tests in the last 1.5 years [x] Babar has failed in Tests in the last 1.5 years [x]

December 2022, was perhaps the last time Babar Azam shone in Test cricket. He played a scintillating knock of 161 off 280 balls against New Zealand, and since then, the runs have dried up across formats.

PAK Batters have progressed, but Babar has regressed

He failed to deliver in the Asia Cup 2023, failed in the World Cup in India, and when Pakistan needed him to stand tall in the T20 World Cup 2024, Babar once again hid behind other batters.

After the monumental ton against New Zealand, which came 1.5 years ago, Babar Azam has not had a single score of fifty plus in Tests, which shows that the former skipper is woefully out of form. His best score in this time period has been 41 runs against Australia, Down Under in a losing cause.

While the other Pakistan batters have taken their game to another level, including the likes of Mohammad Rizwan and Saud Shakeel, Babar's Test game has regressed, so much so that in 2023, he averaged a mere 22.66 in 5 Tests, and has averaged just 16.33 in two-Tests this year.

Babar, not a match-winner in Tests

He has contrasting records in home and away Tests. In 2022, he averaged 69.64 in home Test matches, but his technique was exposed in Australia, where he failed as a batter, and could only accumulated 77 runs in four innings, with the highest score of 41.

The incoming deliveries have started to cause trouble to Babar, and his confidence is also at an all-time low after a disastrous couple of years in Tests.

With Pakistan still in contention for a place in the WTC final, the Men in Green need Babar to fire up as soon as possible.