• Home
  • Match Hub
  • Babar Azams Odi Woes Persist As Left Arm Spin Haunts Pakistan Ace In 1st Match Vs Sa

Babar Azam's ODI woes persist as left-arm spin haunts Pakistan ace in 1st match vs SA

Jatin

Babar Azam once again departed cheaply [Source: AFP]Babar Azam once again departed cheaply [Source: AFP]

It has been that kind of phase for Babar Azam where nothing seems to click. The former Pakistan skipper, usually a picture of elegance at the crease, once again fell prey to his familiar nemesis: left-arm spin.

Babar Azam’s battle with left-arm spin shows no signs of ending

While chasing a 264-run target in the first ODI against South Africa at Faisalabad, Babar Azam was trapped plumb in front by Bjorn Fortuin for just 7 runs off 12 balls as he extended what has been a forgettable run of form in 2025.

If there is one chink that keeps showing in Babar’s otherwise polished armour, it is his struggle against left-arm spin. His dismissal in Faisalabad was almost a replay of his previous troubles: skidding in, keeping low and catching him in two minds. The ball from Fortuin did exactly that, sneaking under his bat and thudding into the pads.

His 2025 numbers against left-arm spin tell a grim tale. In 4 innings, he has been dismissed 3 times by that angle, scoring only 19 runs off 39 balls. That’s an average of 6.3 and a strike rate of just 48.7.

Worse, nearly 70% of those deliveries have been dots. For a batter who built his career on fluency, this dip is like a bad dream he can’t wake up from.

A slump that refuses to end

It is not just the spinners. Babar’s overall ODI form this year has been below par. Across the West Indies series earlier in August 2025, he managed just 56 runs from 3 innings, averaging 18.67 at a strike rate of 62.22. Now, he has been dismissed cheaply once again for just 7.

For someone of his class, these are numbers that raise eyebrows. The timing has gone missing, the confidence looks down and the swagger that once defined his batting has dimmed.

Time for introspection

Every great player goes through lean patches, but what is worrying is the pattern. Babar has been dismissed by left-arm spin far too often in recent months and bowlers around the world seem to have cracked the code. His tendency to play around the front pad along with slower reflexes to balls skidding in, has made him a sitting duck in the middle overs.

Pakistan would hope this is just a passing storm and not the new normal. With the series on the line to be won, Babar needs to find his rhythm again and soon. Because when he clicks, Pakistan look unbeatable. But when he falls early, the whole batting order wobbles like a house of cards.