Babar Azam might be the captain and best batter of Pakistan in the World Cup 2023, but his performance hasn’t been as expected.
Babar Azam might be the captain and best batter of Pakistan in the World Cup 2023, but his performance hasn’t been as expected. Babar has failed to perform in crunch situations when his team required runs from him. Hence, Pakistan have now lost two successive games in the tournament and will need a quick turnaround from their next game onwards.
It’s been a while since Babar has contributed significantly against the big teams in 50-over cricket. Apart from a fifty against India in Ahmedabad, Babar has been through a string of low scores. More importantly, Babar’s troubles against a few particular bowling types are a bigger issue, given the teams in modern-day cricket are smarter than ever now.
Pakistan have already struggled to get their opening partnership right in ODIs at times. And if Babar Azam doesn’t score either, the Men in Green are bound to struggle. Their batting unit also ends with Iftikhar Ahmed, given Mohammad Nawaz hasn’t done anything significant with the willow, and Shadab Khan is out due to his mediocre bowling form.
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The concerns are plenty for Pakistan midway through the tournament. But a few of them will disappear if Babar Azam gets his stuff right and starts scoring big again. The runs from his bat will boost the confidence of the whole team.
Babar Azam has been receiving criticism from experts all around the world after his horrid run in the ongoing World Cup. There has also been plenty of analysis on why he is getting out on low scores consistently. Cheteshwar Pujara highlighted his troubles against the leg-spinners in a show with ESPNcricinfo.
“He felt the pressure,” stated Pujara. “And the stats suggest that he struggles a bit against leg-spinners, and again, he got out to another leg-spinner. Although Zampa was bowling well, there’s no doubt about that, but I still felt he needs to score big for Pakistan to win.”
The former Pakistan player, Urooj Mumtaz, also had a brief talk about Babar Azam on the same show.
“He’s got his issues with leg spin, especially the kind that Zampa bowls. He slides them through quickly or the googly. Rashid Khan has troubled him in the past. Hasaranga has troubled him in the past,” exclaimed Urooj.
Urooj also added that Babar Azam could be under the captaincy pressure.
“It could probably be just captaincy pressure, and like you’re talking about – the global event just pulling him down, or his batting – which hasn’t been the case so far in bilateral cricket. In fact, it’s been quite the opposite with batting, but come this big tournament, he seems lost for ideas both with bat and under the captaincy hat.”
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