Former England captain Nasser Hussain has expressed his concerns regarding Pakistan’s star batter, Babar Azam, who is experiencing a significant dip in form that is affecting his team’s performance.
Babar, often regarded as Pakistan’s finest player, has now gone 18 innings without scoring a fifty or more, raising doubts about his ability to perform under pressure.
In a post-match interview with Sky Sports following England’s commanding win in the first Test against Pakistan, Hussain analyzed Babar’s ongoing struggles, suggesting they may be psychological in nature.
“Their best player—a world-class player—Babar Azam is horrendously out of form. It’s been nine Test matches without a half-century—on these pitches! This could be psychological, especially considering everything he’s been through, including stepping down from the white-ball captaincy,” Hussain remarked.
Babar’s last fifty-plus score came in December 2022, when he scored 161 runs against New Zealand. Since then, he has accumulated just 366 runs in 20 innings at an average of 20.33. His scores of 30 and 5 in the first Test against England, on a batting-friendly pitch, further underscored his difficulties.
Hussain highlighted the increasing pressure on Babar, particularly given the expectations surrounding him in Pakistan. “In this part of the world, if you’re Babar Azam and you go two games without a half-century or a hundred, the pressure mounts, let alone after eight or nine Tests. The pressure is definitely on him,” he noted.
The former England captain also addressed Pakistan’s challenges in the bowling department, specifically their lack of express pace. “You wouldn’t consider any of their three seamers currently playing as express pace. That’s a dangerous mix. With a top order failing in the second innings, you’re uncertain about what pitch to prepare that suits your bowling attack,” he added.
In the first Test, Pakistan featured fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Aamer Jamal, all of whom struggled to trouble England’s batters, with each conceding over 100 runs in the innings, exposing vulnerabilities in Pakistan’s pace attack.
Hussain also pointed out Pakistan’s deficiency in quality spinners, recalling when the team had world-class talent like Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mushtaq Ahmed. “Spin hasn’t been much of a threat. Where are their spinners? Historically, we faced Abdul Qadir, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Mushtaq Ahmed. They’ve always produced great mystery spinners,” he concluded.
In the first Test, Pakistan fielded only one specialist spinner, Abrar Ahmed, who was expensive, conceding 174 runs in 35 overs, and later had to be hospitalized due to a high fever.
England won decisively by an innings and 47 runs, taking a 1-0 lead in the series, with the second Test also scheduled at the same venue.