Babar Azam scored 78 in the first ODI against New Zealand today, but the score only masks his ongoing issues in 50-over cricket.
After Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan elected to field first, New Zealand posted 344-9 at Napier, courtesy Mark Chapman's 132 and debutant Muhammad Abbas' quickfire 52.
On the face of it, star batter Babar Azam did well to anchor Pakistan's attempted chase – he scored 78, his highest score in 24 ODI innings. On the scorecard, the eye shifted across to the 'strike rate' column, but was greeted by a fairly pleasant surprise. Babar struck at 93.97, a good deal quicker than he has looked in recent times.
1st ODI, New Zealand vs Pakistan
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It was never going to be an easy chase for Pakistan, but Abdullah Shafique and Usman Khan gave them a brisk start, and when Babar walked out to the middle, the score was 83-1 in 12.4 overs. Pakistan were going at 6.6 runs an over, and with the required rate at 7.0 per over.
When he was dismissed, Pakistan were 249-4, scoring at 6.4 runs per over and needing 8.5 RPO for another 11.2 overs.
Putting the burden of Pakistan's eventual 73-run loss on Babar alone would be exceedingly harsh. After all, they picked just four specialist bowlers, as part-timers Salman Ali Agha and Irfan Khan Niazi leaked 118 runs in their 10 overs combined in the first innings.
And in the second, Babar's wicket was also the first of seven to fall for the addition of just 22 runs – Pakistan's No. 6-11 scored a grand total of three runs, as they sank quicker than you could say the word 'anchor'.
However, despite a seemingly solid score, a couple of glaring issues continue to be a feature of his game.
Babar's 78 – A resurgence, or a deceptive image?
Since 2023, Babar's ability to rotate strike in the middle overs of ODIs has declined rapidly. Where he once struck at 65-70 off non-boundary deliveries, he now scores at barely 50. It's a bigger issue for a player like him who has never been a prolific boundary hitter, since it means he isn't making up by scoring fours and sixes either.
In today's knock, it took Babar nine deliveries to get off the mark. At various points of the innings, he was on 14 off 27, 30 off 42 and 46 off 62 balls. The latter was at the end of the 31st over, and at that point, Pakistan needed to score at 9.2 per over for 19 overs.
Babar had taken up 10.2 overs, scoring at 4.5 per over – the effect by the end of the 31st over was that Pakistan's required run rate had shot up by 2.2 since he'd entered.
It was from that point that he began to take more risks, and he succeeded to an extent. His next 20 balls yielded 32 runs, with four of his five fours and one of his three sixes coming during this acceleration.
In his first 62 balls, Babar hit one four and two sixes. The other 59 non-boundary balls saw him score just 30, at a touch over a run every other ball, constantly pushing the required run rate up and once again reflecting the primary issue which plagues him through the middle overs – the inability to take on and manipulate the field to his convenience.
The knock-on effect, of course, was that by the time he felt it wise to go after the bowling a bit more, there was too much to do for too long in the run-chase.
However, with runs under his belt, perhaps Babar could kick on and work on his problem in the two ODIs to come in this series, but that remains to be seen. This was far from a match-losing knock overall, but equally, it wasn't as good for Babar as it looks on paper.
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