Right or wrong? Unpacking Babar Azam's selection over Fakhar Zaman in Pakistan's T20I squad

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman (Source: AFP)

Babar Azam is back in the Pakistan's T20I scheme of things after his selection for the series against South Africa. The talismanic batter last played a T20I for Pakistan in December 2024, and since then, Pakistan selectors have ignored him in search of more aggressive options.

However, after the poor batting show in the Asia Cup 2025, the selectors have decided to go back to their former captain. Babar Azam's inclusion, though, has come at a cost of Fakhar Zaman, and it has raised some eyebrows as the left-handed batter is known for his power game. However, has he really lived upto that billing in T20Is and is Babar Azam's inclusion over him justified? Let's find out.

Comparison of Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman: T20I parameters

Babar Azam was dropped from the side due to his low strike rate and the inability to accelerate according to the modern T20I standards. However, his career strike-rate in T20Is is still 129.22, which is just less than Fakhar Zaman's 131.24. The problem with Fakhar Zaman, though, has been a lack of consistency with this mediocre strike-rate. His average in the shortest format for Pakistan is just 23.80, while Babar Azam is known for his incredible consistency and has an average of close to 40.

T20I record: Babar Azam vs Fakhar Zaman

Babar also has 36 fifties and three T20I centuries to his name, while Fakhar Zaman falls short of Babar in this aspect too.

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Strike-rate of Pakistan top-order batters in Asia Cup 2025

Moreover, Fakhar Zaman struggled to get going in the Asia Cup and scored his 181 runs at a strike rate of just 120.17. Therefore, if Fakhar Zaman cannot score at a healthy rate, there seems to be no reason why he should play over Babar Azam in T20Is. Even other top-order batters like Sahibzada Farhan and Saim Ayub struggled with their strike-rates in Asia Cup which makes Babar's inclusion quite logical.

Babar Azam vs Fakhar Zaman: T20Is in Pakistan

Also, the series will be played in Pakistan, and Fakhar Zaman has struggled big time in the 23 T20Is he has played in his own country. His average is below 20 while the strike-rate has also been on the lower side. On the contrary, Babar has flourished in home conditions with a strike-rate of over 140. Therefore, Babar can take that confidence in his comeback series and could score big runs against South Africa.

In the last few matches of the Asia Cup 2025, Fakhar Zaman opened the innings, and Saim Ayub walked out at 3. So, if Pakistan want to persist with Saim at 3, then they can use Babar's potential as an opener to the fullest. In the opener's role, Babar can utilise the Powerplay and provide the consistency which Fakhar Zaman has not been able to provide in his T20I career so far.

Conclusion

Thus, Babar Azam's inclusion over Fakhar Zaman seems justified for the South Africa T20I series. Almost all Pakistan batters struggled to bat at a high strike-rate in the Asia Cup, and regular early wickets also did not help their cause. The presence of Babar Azam would provide more stability, and the stats suggest his strike rate, too, is almost par with other batters in Pakistan's line-up.

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