The writing was on the wall! Reports have emerged that the Pakistan Cricket Team has finally decided on dropping Babar Azam from the PAK vs ENG 2nd Test. After a disappointing loss to England in Multan, the Pakistan Selection Committee has finally decided to drop the ace batter from the second Test.
It has been over a year since Babar Azam hit a century across all three formats of the game. And now with the former Pakistan Cricket Team captain dipping in form, the selectors have decided to drop him from the second Test match.
Babar Azam to be Dropped?
The Selection Committee met after Pakistan’s loss at Multan and held another meeting on Saturday. But reports believe that Test skipper Shan Massod and head coach Jason Gilespie were absent from the meeting. Reports further state that some selectors were unsure about dropping Babar but finally decided to head with the decision.
Interestingly, Babar hasn’t managed to score a Test half-century since December of 2022. And in the last 9 Tests, he has been averaging a lowly 21. While Shan Massod went on to defend Babar as the best batter in the team after the Multan loss, the selectors have finally decided to make the cut.
In the last Test match, he managed to score a combined 35 runs across both innings on a flat batting track in Multan. In fact such has been his poor form, that his last century came in ODIs in Multan on 30th August 2023 against Nepal.
Babar Azam runs across all formats since a year back
1st Innings Runs | 2nd Innings Runs | Match | Venue | Date |
151 | – | ODI v Nepal | Multan | 30 Aug 2023 |
TDNB | – | ODI v India | Pallekele | 2 Sep 2023 |
17 | – | ODI v Bangladesh | Lahore | 6 Sep 2023 |
10 | – | ODI v India | Colombo (RPS) | 10 Sep 2023 |
29 | – | ODI v Sri Lanka | Colombo (RPS) | 14 Sep 2023 |
5 | – | ODI v Netherlands | Hyderabad | 6 Oct 2023 |
10 | – | ODI v Sri Lanka | Hyderabad | 10 Oct 2023 |
50 | – | ODI v India | Ahmedabad | 14 Oct 2023 |
18 | – | ODI v Australia | Bengaluru | 20 Oct 2023 |
74 | – | ODI v Afghanistan | Chennai | 23 Oct 2023 |
50 | – | ODI v South Africa | Chennai | 27 Oct 2023 |
9 | – | ODI v Bangladesh | Eden Gardens | 31 Oct 2023 |
66* | – | ODI v New Zealand | Bengaluru | 4 Nov 2023 |
38 | – | ODI v England | Eden Gardens | 11 Nov 2023 |
21 | 14 | Test v Australia | Perth | 14 Dec 2023 |
1 | 41 | Test v Australia | Melbourne | 26 Dec 2023 |
26 | 23 | Test v Australia | Sydney | 3 Jan 2024 |
57 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Auckland | 12 Jan 2024 |
66 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Hamilton | 14 Jan 2024 |
58 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Dunedin | 17 Jan 2024 |
19 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Christchurch | 19 Jan 2024 |
13 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Christchurch | 21 Jan 2024 |
TDNB | – | T20I v New Zealand | Rawalpindi | 18 Apr 2024 |
14 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Rawalpindi | 20 Apr 2024 |
37 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Rawalpindi | 21 Apr 2024 |
5 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Lahore | 25 Apr 2024 |
69 | – | T20I v New Zealand | Lahore | 27 Apr 2024 |
57 | – | T20I v Ireland | Dublin | 10 May 2024 |
0 | – | T20I v Ireland | Dublin | 12 May 2024 |
75 | – | T20I v Ireland | Dublin | 14 May 2024 |
32 | – | T20I v England | Birmingham | 25 May 2024 |
36 | – | T20I v England | The Oval | 30 May 2024 |
44 | – | T20I v U.S.A. | Dallas | 6 Jun 2024 |
13 | – | T20I v India | New York | 9 Jun 2024 |
33 | – | T20I v Canada | New York | 11 Jun 2024 |
32* | – | T20I v Ireland | Lauderhill | 16 Jun 2024 |
0 | 22 | Test v Bangladesh | Rawalpindi | 21 Aug 2024 |
31 | 11 | Test v Bangladesh | Rawalpindi | 30 Aug 2024 |
30 | 5 | Test v England | Multan | 7 Oct 2024 |