Babar Azam's Misery Continues, Fails On Domestic Comeback After Pakistan Ouster, Calls To Back Young Team Grow

Babar Azam's struggles continues Photo : AP

KEY HIGHLIGHTS Babar Azam is not part of Pakistan's T20I team

Babar made a comeback to domestic cricket

Babar will play the ODI series in New Zealand

Playing a competitive cricket match for the first time since the 2025 Champions Trophy debacle and being axed from Pakistan's T20I team, Babar Azam made a comeback to domestic cricket with the hope of earning his place back in the national in the shortest format ahead of the 2025 Asia Cup and 2026 T20 World Cup

However, Babar did himself no favours after playing for the Hussain Talat-led Lahore Blues in a National T20 Cup match against Karachi Whites, who are captained by Saud Shakeel. Naseem Shah also played for the Lahore-based outfit for the first time this season after not being named in the Pakistan for the T20I series against New Zealand.

Often questioned over his lacklustre strike-rate, Babar did not show any improvement despite opening the batting for his team in a massive run-chase of 172. The former Pakistan captain made just 22 runs in 17 balls at a strike-rate of 129.41, which included three boundaries. The 30-year-old was dismissed by left-arm spinner Danish Aziz, who has played t20 ODIs and two T20Is before. Incidentally, Aziz made all his appearences for Pakistan under Babar's captaincy. The 29-year-old had just 36 wickets in 71 T20 games before tonight's game.

While there have calls questioning the decision to drop Babar after Pakistan's young led by new skipper Salman Agha lost the first two T20Is against New Zealand, fans called for youngsters to receive more trust as Babar's elongated struggles continues.

Babar's failure proved costly for his team as the Blues lost to the Whites by 37 runs. Naseem also had a forgettable outing as he conceded 41 runs in four overs.

Both Babar and Naseem alongside skipper Mohammad Rizwan are part of the Pakistan ODI team for the New Zealand series. The first match of the 50-over series will be played on 29th March in Napier.

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