Pakistan cricket team star Babar Azam has been slammed after yet another failure in the PAK vs SA 1st Test. The former captain managed to score just 28 runs off 43 deliveries in the game in Lahore, marking 34 months since he last scored a half-century at home. Former PAK batter Salman Butt has questioned Babar’s refusal to play domestic cricket, much like what Virat Kohli was asked following his repetitive failures in Australia, which eventually led to his retirement from Tests.
Babar Azam going the Virat Kohli route?
In a video on his YouTube channel, Butt lashed out at Babar for not taking part in domestic red-ball tournaments despite his poor form. He pointed out that players who took part in the games had fared well while Babar looked rusty. Butt stated that it did not matter if Azam enjoyed a huge fan following and that he wasn’t bigger than other players who sweated it out in the domestic games.
“Babar does not even want to play first-class matches. That rustiness was evident. The players who played first-class came and scored runs. So why didn’t Babar play? The first over that he played today, he looked so vulnerable. It seemed like he would get out any time. It’s okay, he is a big player, and people love him, but you have to play domestic cricket. You can’t escape that. And you are not above that,” Butt said.
Babar’s last Test hundred and fifty came way back in 2022. Since then, he has managed to score just one half century in 2024 and 2 in 2025. While Kohli did play a domestic game (Delhi vs Railways in January 2025), he opted to retire abruptly from Tests just before the IND vs ENG series. Babar Azam seems to be following the same path and might soon be ousted from Pakistan’s Test side as well.
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