Babar Azam receives criticism for his slow knock. Image Credit: ANI
Babar Azam’s slow run in T20Is continued as he scored 25 runs in 24 balls against England in the Super 8 clash of the T20 World Cup 2026. The negative impact on the knock meant that Pakistan finished with a sub-par total, which was chased down by England in the second innings courtesy of a century from Harry Brook.
Former English skipper, Michael Vaughan, did not mince his words as he asked the star Pakistani batter to ‘quit’ T20 cricket in order to prolong his career in ODIs and Tests. Along with Vaughan, there have been other experts and former cricketers who have criticised Babar Azam’s T20I numbers.
While appearing on Cricbuzz’s post-match show, Vaughan called out Azam for his slow knock. He appreciated Babar for his strokeplay, but believes that Babar’s lack of physical prowess is holding him back in the shortest format. He said, “I would think that the best thing for Babar to prolong his Test career and his 50-over career would be to give up T20 international cricket.”
Babar’s recent performances in the other two formats haven’t been much to write about. In his last 15 tests, he is averaging close to 25 with only four fifties and no centuries. In One-Day cricket, in the last 23 games, Azam has scored only 772 runs, averaging 38.6. Meanwhile, his strike rate of 76.96 in those games has raised questions over the impact of his knocks.
Having been dropped from the Pakistan team, Babar Azam made it to the T20 World Cup 2026. However, the right-handed batter’s woeful form has followed him to the multi-nation event. In six games, Babar has batted on four occasions, scoring only 91 runs. While his average of 22.75 is a cause of concern in itself, it is his alarmingly low strike rate that has raised questions. He has struck at 112.34 in the tournament as compared to a career strike rate of 128.02.
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