Lahore, 1 September 2026: The troubles of Pakistani cricket team are not showing any sign of abating. In the 3-match Test series against England, the performance against Babar Azam's team has been very poor, due to which Pakistan has given an unassailable lead of 2-0 by losing the first 2 matches against the English team. This defeat has had a direct impact on Pakistan's ranking and the team has slipped to the last position in the points table of the World Test Championship (WTC). After this shameful performance, former Pakistan captain Basit Ali has taken a dig at star batsman Babar Azam and in a sharp reaction has said that Babar is a great player only on social media.
Former cricketer Basit Ali, while talking on 'The Game Plan' show, openly took aim at Babar Azam. He had said that no player becomes great just by talking. When the country is in need and there are difficult situations, it is inevitable to perform well. Basit Ali had raised the question that Babar has not been able to score a single century in Test cricket in the last 4 years, then when will he score this century? When the entire batting chain of the country depends solely on him, then giving away his wicket as a reward for playing bad shots is unacceptable. Fans and PR team may consider him a world class batsman, but the situation on the actual field is completely opposite.
Babar scored 322 runs in 8 tests at an average of 53.66.
Babar, who recently became the Test captain again, has scored 322 runs in these 8 Tests at an average of 53.66. He performed well in the series against West Indies, but his bat has been quiet in the matches against England. In the second Test played at Lord's, he was out after scoring only 8 and 6 runs. If we look at the statistics from January 1, 2023 till now, Babar has scored only 1043 runs in 37 innings of 19 Tests at a poor average of 29.8, in which his highest score has been 83 runs and during this period he has not been able to score a single century.
During the same period, other batsmen for Pakistan have scored more runs than Babar. Saud Shakeel has scored 1511 runs in 40 innings with the help of 4 centuries and 6 half-centuries. Shan Masood has scored 1381 runs in 43 innings with the help of 3 centuries and 8 half-centuries. Salman Aga has scored 1332 runs in 41 innings with the help of 2 centuries and 9 half-centuries, while Mohammad Rizwan has scored 1309 runs in 37 innings with the help of 1 century and 7 half-centuries. There has been a stir in the Pakistani cricket world due to this defeat and this statement of the former captain.