TimesofIndia.com in Kandy: A four-year-old submit by former South Africa batter Herschelle Gibbs, who labored with Babar Azam at Karachi Kings within the Pakistan Super League (PSL), is doing the rounds on social media. Gibbs had urged Babar so as to add a few attacking photographs to his recreation to enhance his strike price. In a reply to one of many followers, he additionally took a jibe at Babar’s reluctance to hunt recommendation. “He’s very much in his own world with his batting, not open to many suggestions,” Gibbs had written.In each Pakistan nets session, Babar cuts a lonely determine. He pads up and bats, and the one cricketer who speaks to him for recommendation is Abrar Ahmad, who made his worldwide debut below Babar. For Shadab Khan, Babar continues to be the skipper, as he retains calling “skip” earlier than bowling to him within the nets.
Babar stays a frontrunner within the group, however he has misplaced his aura after failing to evolve his recreation. He has performed 4 T20 World Cups and has not hit a single six because the 10-wicket win in opposition to India in Dubai in 2021, when Varun Chakravarthy was the bowler.In 2025, he was dropped from the T20I setup, with coach Mike Hesson stating that Babar wanted sturdy performances within the Big Bash League (BBL) to earn a recall. After Pakistan’s loss to India within the Asia Cup, Babar was introduced again. However, his poor run for the Sydney Sixers, the place he scored simply 202 runs in 11 innings at a strike price of 103.06, sparked intense debate over his inclusion within the T20 World Cup squad.Fans, coaches, and former cricketers have all skilled their fireplace on him.ALSO READ | Chasing Virat Kohli, carrying Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan’s goals in T20 World CupDespite the criticism, the 31-year-old stays the main run-scorer in T20Is, with 4,571 runs. No batter has crossed fifty extra usually within the format’s 21-year historical past, doing so 39 instances, together with three tons of. His 475 fours are additionally essentially the most by any batter. Yet the numbers that matter most in T20s paint a harsher image. A strike price of 128.18 strips him of any declare to all-time greatness and is the bottom amongst batters with at the very least 3,500 runs within the format.
Herschelle Gibbs’ social media submit on Babar Azam has been doing the rounds. (Image: X)
In the pre-match press convention forward of Pakistan’s washed-out game in opposition to New Zealand, Hesson did not hold back whereas addressing Babar’s powerplay strike price and backed his stance with numbers. “Babar is well aware that his strike rate in the powerplay is below 100 in T20 World Cups,” Hesson mentioned.Across the 4 T20 World Cups Babar has performed, he has confronted 217 balls within the powerplay for 187 runs. His strike price of 86.17 is the bottom amongst batters who’ve confronted a minimal of 200 deliveries in that section.Babar didn’t even come out to bat in opposition to Namibia at his newly designated No. 4 place. Instead, Khawaja Nafay after which Shadab Khan had been despatched out, marking the primary time in Babar’s T20I profession that he didn’t bat.After the Namibia match, Shadab defended the choice and spoke concerning the readability inside the group. “Babar knows exactly when his role comes into play. The messages are clear for every player. The team changes according to conditions, and that’s what is happening,” he mentioned.
Babar Azam (PTI Photo)
Just a few days later, Hesson additional defined Babar’s position. “We brought Babar back for a specific role post the Asia Cup. We wanted stability through the middle, and he gives us that. When we reached the 12th over the other day, Babar was not the best option. We had players better suited for the end. Babar understands that. He knows his skill set and also knows when others can perform that role more efficiently,” Hesson mentioned.During nets in Kandy on a moist Monday afternoon, Babar was seen batting largely in opposition to the left-arm spin of Mohammad Nawaz and a neighborhood internet bowler. Hesson stayed shut, consistently speaking to him. Instead of the wild slog he tried in opposition to Axar Patel in Colombo, Babar labored on enjoying with the spin and executed just a few elegant inside-out photographs.Power has by no means been Babar’s recreation. He mastered the anchor position, however in trendy T20 cricket, that position has misplaced relevance. Teams now demand momentum within the powerplay. Pakistan, nonetheless, have persevered with anchors on the prime. Whether it was Babar or his former opening accomplice Mohammad Rizwan, the technique usually ended up rising strain on the remainder of the batting order as a result of gradual scoring charges.
Pakistan’s Babar Azam follows the ball after enjoying a shot in the course of the third T20 cricket match between Pakistan and Australia, in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (AP)
Babar was as soon as tipped because the “King” of Pakistan cricket. Comparisons with Virat Kohli had been fixed, and for a quick interval, he was talked about alongside Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, Kohli, and Joe Root as a part of the fashionable greats. That peak, nonetheless, didn’t final, and now with each match he’s changing into the “match ka mujrim” for Pakistan.Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif believes Babar’s second elimination as captain has left a psychological scar. “He should not have taken the captaincy again after being removed the first time. That was a mistake. The second sacking dented his confidence,” Latif advised TimesofIndia.com.At 31, Babar stands at a profession crossroads. The expertise is unquestioned, however the calls for of recent T20 cricket have moved sooner than his evolution. With spin anticipated to dominate in Kandy, the seemingly recall of Abrar Ahmad, and the necessity for a left-hander similar to Fakhar Zaman within the prime order, Babar’s place is now not assured. Even if he performs, his position is shrinking. The crown he as soon as wore comfortably now sits uneasily, and time is now not on his facet.
