With just 275 runs in his last 7 Tests at an average of 21.15 and highest score of 41, it is safe to state that Babar Azam is going through one of the roughest patches in his international career. It is not just the Test format, Babar has been underperforming in all the formats for some time now. The Pakistan modern-day great who could not put a foot wrong till the first half of 2023, has been woefully short of runs as of late.
In the last 12 months, Babar has aggregated 1335 runs in 37 matches across formats with just one century to his name at an average of 36.08, much lower to his career batting average of 47.73.
His poor performances are one of the main reasons why the Pakistan team hasn’t been able to do well in recent tournaments. They failed to reach the finals of the Asia Cup and the semi-finals of the ODI World Cup, and then they were knocked out from the group stage of the T20 World Cup.
Last week, they suffered their first-ever Test defeat to Bangladesh, that too in home conditions. Babar scored 0 and 22 on a pitch where 3 batters smashed towering centuries.
At a time when Babar has been going through heavy trolling and criticism, former PCB chief Ramiz Raja urged him to ‘avoid social media.’
“It seems the entire nation does not have a problem with anything except the form of Babar Azam. Unfortunately, what happens is when you lose a match and you have not scored runs and if you are Babar Azam, then you become a headline – How did we lose? What did he do? What was his contribution? And then this is the era of social media. Anybody can criticize and ridicule anyone, this should be discouraged as much as possible,” Ramiz said on his YouTube channel.
Ramiz advised Babar to focus on his batting and ‘stay in the moment’ amid his poor form.
“So what does he have to do? First, avoid social media. Second, stay in the moment. When you are not able to score runs, it becomes a mental game and you start second-guessing. So you start worrying and that worrisome look is evident on Babar’s face. He is trying hard, so frustration will be there. What’s important is how he is batting,” Ramiz said.
“You lose your frame because you aren’t spending much time on the crease. If you are playing forward, commit fully, if on the back foot, then use the crease. Practice hook and pull shots a lot, because then you focus on the ball a lot,” Ramiz concluded.
