Deep Dasgupta: “It’s possible that Babar didn’t find his form due to the early dismissals of openers”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Former India wicketkeeper-batsman Deep Dasgupta has admitted that it is possible the Pakistan openers could be to blame for Babar Azam’s poor form.
He noted that since one of the openers tends to get out early, it results in Azam having to come out to the crease to stabilise the innings.
As a result, it puts extra pressure on the 29-year-old, which may be why he has not lived up to expectations as of late.
“It’s possible that Babar didn’t find his form due to the early dismissals of openers,” Dasgupta told Geo Super.
Azam stepped down as Pakistan captain in all three formats after the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup, where he scored 320 runs in nine matches, which included four fifties, at an average of 40.
The men in green began by beating the Netherlands and Sri Lanka before faltering against India, Australia, Afghanistan and South Africa.
Even though they fought back to defeat Bangladesh and New Zealand, they failed to make it to the semi-finals.
To add insult to injury, Pakistan lost their last group stage game against England by 93 runs.
Azam will now represent Pakistan in their three-match Test series against Australia, which begins on December 14 in Perth.
Pakistan Squad for Australia Test Series: Shan Masood (captain), Aamer Jamal, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Khurram Shahzad, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Noman Ali, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha, Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Saud Shakeel and Shaheen Shah Afridi