Does Babar Azam deserve a place in Pakistan's team after failure in IND vs PAK clash?

Babar Azam got out for five runs in the IND vs PAK game.

Babar Azam is an experienced batter in Pakistan’s squad in the T20 World Cup 2026. The right-handed batsman started the tournament with a poor outing against the Netherlands, scoring 15 runs off 18 balls. However, he made a comeback with a 46-run knock against the USA in the next game. Salman Agha & Co. won both the matches.

However, the former Pakistan captain failed to make a mark in the clash against India at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on February 15. Pakistan had a challenging target of 176 runs in the match. They suffered a batting collapse at the top order, with their top five batters losing their wickets for single digits.

The Men-in-Green lost opener Sahibzada Farhan (0) and Saim Ayub (6), followed by captain Agha (4). Babar came out to bat at No. 4, but his stint ended soon, as he could only score five runs off seven deliveries.

After his flop batting show against India, below are a few reasons why Babar Azam doesn’t deserve a place in Pakistan’s team.

Reasons why Babar Azam doesn’t deserve a place in the Pakistan team

3. Struggling to bat aggressively

While Azam scored a decent knock of 46 runs against the USA, he has struggled to score runs at a high strike rate. Scoring 15 runs off 18 balls against the Netherlands showed his inability to bat aggressively.

In three games, he has a strike rate of 115.78, scoring 66 runs across three matches. Moreover, he has also hit only five boundaries and one six in the tournament so far.

2. Babar Azam’s batting slot

Azam used to be an opener for Pakistan in the shortest format a few years ago. However, he has been dropped to the No. 4 spot in the T20 World Cup 2026.

This is not an ideal batting slot for the senior Pakistan batter in the playing XI. Moreover, a powerful batter like Fakhar Zaman has been benched due to Babar’s addition to the side.

1. Poor Batting Average

The right-handed batsman accounts for a poor average after three games in the T20 World Cup. With 66 runs in three games, he has a batting average of 22.0.

This is very low in a crucial tournament like the World Cup. He was in good form ahead of the T20I series against Australia just ahead of the tournament. He scored a fifty in one game.

However, he failed to continue his form in ICC tournaments. Hence, he should be dropped from the team and other batters should be allowed to get opportunities.

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