Pakistan national cricket team batsman Babar Azam is going through a busy time in Test cricket, especially with the second Test against Bangladesh national cricket team just a few days away. The match will be held at the Rawalpindi International Cricket Stadium in Rawalpindi from August 30.
Babar Azam has been under the spotlight for his poor run of form in Test cricket. The right-handed bowler has not been able to get going in the longest format of the game and the same was true even in the recently concluded first Test against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team.
Babar scored a duck in the first innings of the Test against Rawalpindi and then failed to make a bigger impact in the second innings as well.
The batsman scored 22 runs in 50 balls with the help of three boundaries. His poor performance led to the team losing the game even after being in a position to win.
Ahead of the second Test, the focus will be on Babar Azam as he will have to make a massive impact if Pakistan are to return to the series.
However, preparations are not going as he would have wanted as he had to face Khurram Shahzad once again in the nets.
Khurram Shahzad, who castled Babar before the first Test in the nets, came up with another move to get the batsman out. The right-hander ended up hitting the ball as it flew towards the slip. The video went viral on the internet and the batsman was heavily criticised.
Babar Azam overtakes Khurram Shahzad on the nets
Here is the video:
Khurram Shahzad again dismisses Babar Azam, this time in the slips. Hope this isn’t a repeat of the action from the second Test 🇵🇰😭😭😭#PAKvBAN image.twitter.com/TiqpzM9BXY
– Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) August 28, 2024
Babar Azam has failed to score a single fifty in the longest format of the game since 2022. In the 12 innings that he played last year, he scored just 204 runs, which is way below the standards set for him, and not only this, it has also seen a lot of people questioning his place in the team.
Before the Test series against the Bangladesh national cricket team, Babar Azam was ranked third in the ICC Test rankings. However, after his two failures in the first Test, he faced a major setback in the Test rankings. He dropped six places and moved from third to ninth place.
Pakistan suffered a disappointing 10-wicket defeat in the first Test match against the Bangladesh national cricket team. They were the hot favourites to win the match as they started off quite well. However, the way Najmul Hossain Shanto’s men managed a comeback, it was a match worth watching.
Pakistan was asked to bat first and got off to a poor start as they lost three wickets quickly. But after that, Mohammad Rizwan (171*) and Saud Shakeel (141) played a magnificent innings and brought the team back into the game. Captain Shan Masood then declared the innings at 448 runs but it turned out to be the wrong decision.
Bangladesh also had some problems with the new ball and lost a few wickets early on. But after that, they batted well. Shadman Islam scored 93 runs while Mominul Haque also scored a half-century. Mushfiqur Rahim also played an innings of 191 runs as Bangladesh took the lead by over 100.
They then defeated Pakistan by just 146 runs, setting a target of just 30 runs, which they chased down with 10 wickets in hand.
