Despite his undeniable talent and consistency, Babar Azam's conservative approach, particularly against spin, has put added pressure on Pakistan's middle order, but can he shed his inhibitions?
Ahead of the tri-nation series, Pakistan skipper Mohammad Rizwan did not mince his words when asked who the problem-solver in the team was. “King karlega [The King will do it],” he proclaimed, his tone betraying the awe of a fan still enchanted by the world of Babar Azam and its seemingly boundless possibilities.
For those unaware, ‘King’ is the moniker bestowed upon Babar by his teammates, with Hasan Ali being the first to publicly acknowledge his supposed supremacy. Babar, well aware of the weight such a title carries, has since humbly requested not to be addressed by it. Yet, his own captain elevating him to a pedestal even he would hesitate to claim for himself felt like a step too far.
Perhaps the reverence would have been warranted had Babar been delivering performances befitting his royal status. His 90-ball 64 in a run chase of 321 in the Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand was the latest in a string of slow-scoring knocks in the format, a familiar pattern often seen with him in T20Is.
Although, the innings should be seen with clearer lenses: Babar was batting at an unfamiliar position, likely one he does not prefer, and forced to bat 65 deliveries through the middle alongside an injured Fakhar Zaman who was turning down more singles than he was attempting, his lack of ‘intent’, an overused word if any in cricket, was the focal point of discussion.
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Nonetheless, legends have carved a place for themselves in these very moments, where the game needs tackling head-on against the odds. Ever so often, the greatest victories are down to individual brilliance and Babar had the opportunity to get his team up and running with a knock for the ages. It was not to be, with Babar only kicking on once the attacking strokes of Salman Agha and Khushdil Shah came out, without which his innings would have looked even paler.
After the game, Cheteshwar Pujara broke down Babar’s innings on the show Dressing Room on Ten Sports and highlighted what he could have done differently. “When the spinners are operating, you should use the paddle-sweep or reverse-sweep – it need not be forceful, just a paddle, because what it does is, you are opening up a new pocket to get runs. And the fielder at square leg would then move to 45. Similarly, when you face the spinners with mid-off up, you have to use your feet regularly, and when you do so, you are not letting the bowler bowl where he wants.”
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New Zealand, realising his limitations, tied him up with spin, bowling Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell in tandem. He ended up facing 54 balls against them, scoring 35 runs, and hitting just two fours. Babar also had a dot ball percentage of nearly 52 against the slower bowlers in the game, which only built on to the pressure, on him and the following batters.
It’s not a new struggle. Babar, once prolific against spin, averaging 82.1 against them till the end of 2021, has averaged a tad over 48 since then. His strike rate, once in the healthy 80s, now barely creeps up over 80. In 2023, he struck at 77.7 against spin, which fell to 68.4 the following year. In 2025, it reads just 60.3. Babar has been dismissed 20 times to spin in his last 39 innings; he had fallen to it 18 times in his first 57.
His average against pace has increased to 59.1 in this period, up from 47.4 against them in the first seven years of his ODI career but with teams now troubling him with spin, his weaknesses are being exploited even more.
His overall strike rate in the last three years has been affected, as a result. Since the start of 2022, Babar has averaged 53.79 but at a strike rate of 84.93, even below his career strike rate of 87.91. The fastest to score 6,000 ODI runs recently, Babar has crossed 50 in 23 of his last 43 innings, but run-making has never been an issue for him. It is how he gets them: Only three of those knocks have been scored at above run-a-ball, and four more above a strike rate of 90. Eight 50-plus knocks have been made at a strike rate below 80 and two below 70.
No other batter from a full-member team has made more than 1,500 runs and has a strike rate below Babar’s since 2022. While he has the second-best average, his conservative batting has meant the batters around him need to do the heavy lifting. Pakistan’s white-ball game has also been lagging for a while, especially in ODIs where two new balls and an extra fielder in the circle during the middle overs have given the batting teams more freedom.
Since 2022, 12 different players have batted for Pakistan between numbers 4-8 in at least five innings, below Babar. Of them, eight have a strike rate above 90 but barring Agha Salman and Iftikhar Ahmed, none have managed an average above 35. It suggests how Pakistan’s middle-order have been left in the lurch to make up for the run rate, often sacrificing consistency themselves for quick cameos.
Babar remains one of the most gifted batters of his generation, his numbers reinforcing his stature. But for all his elegance and run-making ability, the modern game demands more than just accumulation. Rizwan’s earlier remark was steeped in belief, but now, Babar needs to do just that and deliver like a king, even if it's for his own sake.
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