From being regarded as one of the best batsmen that Pakistan has ever produced to becoming a liability for his own team, Babar Azam’s decline has been shocking. The former Pakistan skipper has not been up to the mark and is facing a serious dip in form. He has done wonders with the bat before, but hasn’t been able to build upon his heroics in recent times.
The fact that he hasn’t hit a six in a T20I game since 2021 speaks volume about how much he is struggling to cope up with the pace of the modern day game. His bat has been silent for a few years and despite playing four World Cups, he hasn’t managed to score big. Babar’s strike has been poor to say the least.
His T20 career strike rate stands at 128.18. Having a strike rate just above 100 in T20Is is itself a huge downgrade for a player of Babar Azam’s calibre. It only gets worse when it comes to ODIs. Babar has maintained a poor strike rate of 87.16 in the 50 over format signalling his inability to adapt to the past pace changes in the game.
Also Read | Babar Azam brutally trolled on Twitter after another failure against England
Babar has always been advised to add more shots to his arsenal by analysts, but his reluctance to do it has led him down this path. He is not open to exploring new techniques and adding new shots to his gameplay. Former South Africa batter Herschelle Gibbs made a post on twitter asking Babar to try more shots to improve his strike rate back in 2021.
“If babar adds one or two more attacking options to his game his strike rate will improve and be even more effective,” he wrote.
The former cricketer had worked with Babar during his time with the Karachi Kings in the PSL. He said that Babar is not very flexible and likes to stick with his limited options in reply to a fan.
“He’s very much in his own world with his batting not open to much suggestions,”
Babar Azam and his strike rate have always been a point of scrutiny among fans and pundits. He was dropped from Pakistan’s setup in 2025 by Mike Hesson before being brought back again. Babar holds some of the prestigious and unbreakable records in the shortest format of the game, but all of it is history now. He needs to level up his game in order to guarantee his place in Pakistan’s setup.
