'Ordinary Player': Fans Slam Babar Azam For as Poor Run Of Form In Tests Continues Against England

Pakistan batter Babar Azam continues to face backlash for his off-form in Test cricket. His performance was quite underwhelming in the first innings of the series opener against England. Babar walked into the crease in Multan following the dismissal of Abdullah Shafique. Babar could survive 71 balls and managed to score 30 runs before falling victim to Chris Woakes. The England pacer trapped him for an LBW and the on-field umpire immediately raised his finger. Babar opted for the DRS but the review ultimately went in vain.

This was the 15th consecutive time that Babar Azam failed to breach the 50-run mark in the longest format. He had last registered a 50-plus score in a home Test against New Zealand in December 2022. Babar put up a century on that occasion and scored 161 runs. Since then, he has crossed 40 in just one Test.

The pitch in Multan looked flat after Pakistan began their innings on the opening day of the match. Opener Abdullah Shafique scored a brilliant century. He stitched a 253-run partnership with captain Shan Masood, who scored 151 off 177 balls. Babar, however, could not make the most out of the surface.

Many fans criticised Babar Azam on social media. One of them sarcastically commented, “Everything is variable but Babar Azam’s performance is constant in this world.”

“Babar Azam’s batting never gives fans a chance to be disappointed – even after he is out, everyone starts getting entertained,” quipped another user.

An Indian fan reckons “Babar Azam needs more hard work to reach Virat Kohli’s level in Test cricket.”

“Babar is nothing but an absolutely ordinary player. Pakistan’s agenda of forcefully trying to make a Kohli out of a nobody destroyed the career of an average player like Babar Azam. Sad (not really), but true,” another commented on X (formerly Twitter).

This person referred to Mohammad Rizwan, who returned with a duck in the first innings of the ongoing Multan Test. “Very rare moment when Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam fail to perform together in the same match! Indeed Bobby-Rizz are the backbone of Pakistan Cricket Team,” read the comment.

Before his lean patch started in 2022, Babar Azam had an average of over 50 in Tests. In that year, he scored four hundreds and seven half-centuries in nine games to aggregate 1104 runs. Last year, Babar featured in five Tests and recorded an average of 22.66. So far this year, he has averaged 20.42 in four matches.