Mohammad Rizwan has backed
Babar Azam to come good with his form, as Pakistan prepare to take on New Zealand in the
tri-series final in Karachi on Friday. Runs in that game will be handy, though the bigger goal of a long-term return to runs will be handier.
Babar has struggled across formats for a while now and though his form in ODIs – arguably his strongest format – has not fallen away as sharply as in the other two, it is down considerably. Since the start of the Asia Cup in August 2023, he
averages 42.90 in 25 games, a run that has brought his his career average down from 59 to the mid-50s. If you take out a single innings – of 151 – against Nepal, the average in that run drops below 38.
This series has not looked like breaking that mould. He was
dismissed for 10 in the first game against New Zealand, a painful innings that stretched across the entire Powerplay and in stark contrast to Fakhar Zaman’s blistering form at the other end.
In Pakistan’s
record chase of 353 against South Africa, Babar started brightly and looked good until he was trapped in front by Wiaan Mulder for 23. Rizwan argued that Babar had become a victim of his own success.
“Babar has scored so many runs for Pakistan that we expect him to score a hundred in each game,” Rizwan said. “If we don’t judge him by those extreme expectations, you’ll find he’s still chipping in and contributing valuably for us.
“As a captain, I expect a lot more of him too because of all he has done in the past. There is obviously an additional pressure because of it and I’m sure he feels that too. But if you look at his innings in South Africa, [he is still scoring runs]. It’s not as if he has clear technical deficiencies, but he is still being tested. I am confident he’ll come out of it.”
“When Abdullah Shafique got out early in South Africa, Babar had to deal with the new ball anyway. He was coping with the seam and swing and enabling us to attack at the end. So, we thought why not go for our most technically solid player to open, rather than throwing someone else in at the deep end”
Mohammad Rizwan
Babar did hit two fifties in Pakistan’s recent
series win in South Africa, and made useful runs in the ODI series win in Australia before that, so there is some recent form. But that return has become complicated by him being pushed up to open in this series – the first time he has batted there in ODIs in a decade.
It was necessitated by the
injury to Saim Ayub and Abdullah Shafique’s drastic loss of form across formats. This series was seen as a trial for Babar in that role and the jury remains out on whether Pakistan will continue batting him there during the
Champions Trophy, which begins on February 19. Asked if he would consider opening – as he does in T20s – if the Babar plan wasn’t working, Rizwan said he would.
“We have other players who can open if we need them to. Saim Ayub was a huge all-round blow for us, including in the field because he was one of our best fielders, opened the batting, and could bowl eight or so overs.
“His absence created a huge disturbance, and we went for the safety of Babar Azam, who’s our best batter. At the top, if the ball swings, he can control it. When Abdullah Shafique got out early in South Africa, Babar had to deal with the new ball anyway. He was coping with the seam and swing and enabling us to attack at the end. So, we thought why not go for our most technically solid player to open, rather than throwing someone else in at the deep end.”
