Cheteshwar Pujara: “Babar’s footwork against the spinner was not good. He was not using his feet. He didn’t [try] to play any sweep shot or a paddle sweep. Nowadays, reverse sweep is also an option to disturb the length of a spinner”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Senior India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara has highlighted Pakistan batsman Babar Azam’s poor footwork against spinners.
He noted that Azam is “not using his feet” and doesn’t try to “disturb the length of a spinner” by playing shots such as the sweep or paddle sweep.
The Lahore native has struggled to score runs regularly as of late and Pujara admitted that “it looks like there is… mental pressure on him”.
“Babar’s footwork against the spinner was not good. He was not using his feet. He didn’t [try] to play any sweep shot or a paddle sweep. Nowadays, reverse sweep is also an option to disturb the length of a spinner. It looks like there is… mental pressure on him,” he was quoted as saying by TOK Sports on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Azam recently featured in the 2025 Champions Trophy and made 87 runs in two games, which included a top score of 64, at an average of 43.50.
Following this, Pakistan took on New Zealand in a five-match T20I series and lost 4-1. Azam was not selected in the T20I squad.
However, he was picked for the three-match ODI series and amassed 129 runs, which included two fifties, at an average of 43.
Azam is now captaining the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL), where he has made three runs in three games at an average of one.
PSL 10 began on April 11 and will finish on May 18.
Peshawar Zalmi Squad for PSL 10:
- Platinum: Babar Azam (captain), Saim Ayub, Tom Kohler-Cadmore
- Diamond: Corbin Bosch, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Haris
- Gold: Abdul Samad, Hussain Talat, Nahid Rana
- Silver: Arif Yaqoob, Najibullah Zadran, Max Bryant, Mehran Mumtaz, Sufiyan Muqeem
- Emerging: Ali Raza, Maaz Sadaqat
- Supplementary: Ahmed Daniyal, Alzarri Joseph