Pakistan's superstar batter Babar Azam struggled to find his form in the first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi. Azam has been experiencing a lean patch in recent times, having had a disappointing T20 World Cup and struggling to regain his form in red-ball cricket. In the first innings, Azam was dismissed for a two-ball duck. In the second innings, he was dropped on the first ball but failed to capitalise on the opportunity and was eventually dismissed for just 22 runs. Babar hasn't scored a single fifty in his last 14 Test innings. His last half-century came way back in December 2022 against New Zealand, where he scored 161 runs.
Meanwhile, Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali criticised Babar for focusing on batting for longer periods in the nets but failing to replicate that performance in matches. Ali suggested that Babar consider skipping practice sessions altogether.
"Just stop batting in the nets. You score all your runs in the nets, what will you do in the match? You don't play where you need to bat for two hours, but you play for two hours in the nets. Just do skipping and knocking in the practice," Basit said on his YouTube channel.
This was Pakistan's first-ever defeat in Tests against Bangladesh. Not just this, the embarrassing loss against Bangladesh extended their winless streak in red-ball cricket at home to five losses and four draws since their last victory against South Africa in Rawalpindi in 2021. Pakistan made several tactical errors throughout the match, beginning with their decision to field an all-pace attack. Additionally, their choice to declare their first innings before reaching 500 runs with four wickets remaining was another questionable move.
This wasn't it from Basit, as he earlier mocked the third-ranked Test batter while slamming his dismissal by saying Babar acts like he is Pakistan's Don Bradman.
"I'm feeling very disappointed that it seems as if you’ve forgotten how to bat, or have the Bangladesh bowlers cast some magic on you, or is it the pitch that’s done the trick? Aap log toh bade bade Bradman ho na (You all are supposed to be big Bradmans, right?) ICC No. 1 Babar Azam. He got a life when a catch was dropped, but then Nahid Rana chased Babar down with his pace. When he got out, it looked like he didn’t even expect the ball to come back like that," Basit earlier said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan dropped to eighth place in the World Test Championship 2023-25 points table following their defeat, while Bangladesh rose to sixth after their historic victory.
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