Shoaib Akhtar: “When there is even a little swing, Babar tends to struggle”
Image taken by: Bimal Mirwani
Iconic Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has pinpointed a key weakness Babar Azam has right now, noting that he struggles to score runs when bowlers are getting “even a little swing”.
Azam is currently in the midst of a rough patch, which has lasted for many months and resulted in constant criticism being directed his way.
Akhtar pointed out that the 30-year-old needs to fix the issues stopping him from getting back to being one of the best run-scorers in world cricket.
“When there is even a little swing, Babar tends to struggle,” he was quoted as saying by Cricket Pakistan.
Recently, Azam captained the Peshawar Zalmi in the 2025 Pakistan Super League (PSL) and finished with 288 runs in 10 games, which included three fifties, at an average of 36 and a strike-rate of 128.57.
After PSL 10 ended, Pakistan went up against Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series, but Azam was not part of the squad.
He also didn’t feature in Pakistan’s T20I tour of Bangladesh and the T20I series against the West Indies.
However, Azam was involved in the three-match ODI series against the West Indies and amassed 56 runs at an average of 18.66.
Pakistan Squad for West Indies T20I Series: Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Sahibzada Farhan (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
Pakistan Squad for West Indies ODI Series: Mohammad Rizwan (captain), Salman Ali Agha, Abdullah Shafique, Abrar Ahmed, Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Mohammad Haris (wicketkeeper), Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Saim Ayub, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Sufiyan Muqeem
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