Uncertainty surrounds the position of senior batter Babar Azam within the Pakistan cricket setup as poor form and prolonged failures continue to mount. Team management finds itself in a difficult predicament regarding his selection as performances on the ongoing tour of England fall well below expectations. Having already surrendered the three-match series after losing the first two encounters, the visiting side hoped to salvage some pride in the final fixture. However, the batting unit collapsed once again, displaying the same vulnerabilities that have plagued the team throughout the tour.
Collapse in the First Innings of the Third Test
During the opening innings of the final Test match, the entire Pakistan batting lineup folded for a paltry total of 133 runs. Captain Babar Azam managed just seven runs from 18 balls before heading back to the pavilion. Remarkably, none of the top five batters in the lineup managed to reach double digits. Only Saud Shakeel, Razaullah, and Mohammad Abbas crossed the ten-run mark, leaving the team in complete disarray.
Struggles After Returning from Injury
The current tour has offered no respite for the star batter, who missed the opening Test due to fitness issues. Upon returning to the playing eleven for the second match, he recorded scores of eight and six runs across the two innings. Across his last three innings in the series, he has failed to cross the double-digit threshold even once, which has triggered a steep decline in his Test batting average. A clearer picture of his career statistics will emerge only after the conclusion of the current series.
Waiting for a Test Century Since 2022
The most glaring statistic surrounding the experienced batter is his long wait for a triple-digit score in the longest format of the game. Babar Azam scored his last Test century back in December 2022 during a home fixture against New Zealand in Karachi, where he notched up 161 runs in the first innings. Nearly four years have passed since that milestone, but the milestone continues to elude him. Outside of a few occasional half-centuries, he has consistently fallen cheaply during this extended phase.
Growing Risk of Exclusion from the Squad
Since recording his previous century, Babar Azam has played 39 Test innings without reaching the three-figure mark. Given his ongoing struggles and the mounting pressure on the team management after sweeping changes in the squad, speculation is once again growing that he could soon face exclusion from the national side if his form does not improve.
