Babar Azam's 2024 has begun with the same whimper as 2023 ended. The former Pakistan captain's nightmarish outing against Australia finally concluded with another low score of 23 as his team crumbled to lose 7 wickets for 68 in their second innings of the Sydney Test. Babar, who was out for 26 in the first innings by an in-dipper from Pat Cummins, was out to The Australia captain, once again out LBW. With this, Babar's campaign in Australia – his second Test series Down Under – concludes with an abysmal tally of 126 runs from six innings at an average of 21 and a highest of 41 in the MCG Test.
This is Babar's third-lowest aggregate in a three-Test series. On his last trip to Australia back in 2016/17, Babar had scored no more than 68 runs, and followed it with a 136-run tally against West Indies shortly after. But both those tours were seven-eight years, when Babar was a 22-year-old youngster trying to find his feet in international cricket.
However, given the heights Babar and his batting has reached over the last 3-4 years, Babar finishing with just over 126 runs is a real shocker. Having piled loads of runs on Pakistan and subcontinent pitches, the Australia Tests were going to be a true test of Babar's character and it's safe to assume that the star Pakistan batter has fumbled big time. In fact, Babar's 126-run series is lower than the nightmarish outing Virat Kohli had endured during his 2024 trip to England. In a five-Test series, Kohli had aggregated 135 runs at an average of 10.5. Kohli has once endured statistically worse figures in a three-Test series than Babar after hitting his peak – 46 runs against Australia in 2017 – but there he batted in five innings.
Babar trolled
As soon as Babar was dismissed, terms such as 'Bobsi' and 'Zimbabar' began trending on the social media platform X. Babar hasn't enjoyed the best of forms lately. His last century in any format dates back to August 2023 when he hit 151 against Nepal in the Asia Cup. The World Cup 2023 was another setback for Babar given his standards – finishing with 320 runs from nine matches as Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals. In fact, his 41 in the previous Test was his highest in Tests in 2023 – ending a calendar year without a single Tests fifty. The last time it happened to a Pakistan batter who batted in at least 8 innings was Basit Ali in 1995.
{{/usCountry}}As soon as Babar was dismissed, terms such as 'Bobsi' and 'Zimbabar' began trending on the social media platform X. Babar hasn't enjoyed the best of forms lately. His last century in any format dates back to August 2023 when he hit 151 against Nepal in the Asia Cup. The World Cup 2023 was another setback for Babar given his standards – finishing with 320 runs from nine matches as Pakistan failed to qualify for the semi-finals. In fact, his 41 in the previous Test was his highest in Tests in 2023 – ending a calendar year without a single Tests fifty. The last time it happened to a Pakistan batter who batted in at least 8 innings was Basit Ali in 1995.
{{/usCountry}}Australia, who are leading the series 2-0, have the opportunity to make it 3-0 - their sixth straight clean-sweep over Pakistan. They trail by 82 runs with just three more wickets to get when play resumes on Day 4 on Saturday.