Babar Azam to play domestic red-ball cricket after seven years
What's the story
Pakistan's Test captain Babar Azam is set to return to domestic cricket after seven years. He will play for the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in the ongoing President's Trophy Grade 1 First-Class tournament. The decision comes amid his prolonged struggles in Test cricket, where he hasn't scored a century since December 2022. Here are further details.
Player's initiative
Babar's request to PCB
Babar had requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to help him join a domestic side so that he could stay in touch with the longer format and work on his game.
The PCB obliged and arranged for his participation with OGDCL.
Despite his struggles, Babar has mostly stayed away from domestic First-Class cricket, missing out on all eight squads announced by PCB for this season's President's Trophy and President's Cup last week.
Long absence
First-class return after seven years
Babar Azam's last appearance in a domestic First-Class tournament was back in 2019. He had led Central Punjab to victory over Northern in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy final.
Now, nearly seven years later, he is set to return to the domestic red-ball circuit with OGDCL.
The department's sports head, Farah Batool, confirmed that Babar will join the OGDCL squad after returning from the UK on September 16.
Performance analysis
Babar's struggles in Test cricket
Babar was reappointed Pakistan's Test captain in July. However, his second stint has been marred by mixed results.
The team drew a two-Test series against West Indies 1-1 before suffering a 3-0 whitewash against England.
Babar's own batting has also come under the scanner as he hasn't scored a Test century in four years.
He showed signs of revival during Pakistan's West Indies tour but struggled in the recent England series, missing one match due to injury.
Numbers
Babar's dismal numbers
Babar's last Test century came in December 2022, when he scored 161 against New Zealand in Karachi. His last away ton came in July that year.
Notably, Babar's only Test century outside Asia came in December 2019 - 104 against Australia at The Gabba.
Since the start of 2023, Babar has scored 1,126 runs from 20 Tests at an average of 30.43, including 8 half-centuries, as per Cricinfo.