Decoding Babar Azam's struggles against pacers in 2024 (Test matches)
What's the story
Babar Azam, the star of Pakistan's cricket team, continues his unfortunate run in Test cricket.
In the ongoing opening Test against England in Multan, he scored a 15-ball five in the third innings, despite a batting-friendly pitch.
Babar managed 30 runs in the first innings.
It must be noted that the game has witnessed five centurions, including three from Pakistan.
Here we decode Babar's struggles against pacers in Tests this year.
Dismissal details
Another poor outing for Babar
In the third innings, Babar was dismissed by England speedster Gus Atkinson, who found an outside edge of the star batter's blade.
Chris Woakes, another pacer, trapped him lbw in the first innings.
Meanwhile, his dismissal in the third innings was indeed untimely as it reduced the hosts to 41/3.
His latest failure also received criticism from the cricket fraternity across the globe.
Bowling challenge
Babar's struggle against spinners and pacers
According to ESPNcricinfo, Babar has managed to score 57 runs against spinners in five innings this year at an average of 28.50 and has been dismissed twice by them.
Against pacers, his performance is even more dismal with just 91 runs from eight innings at a poor average of 15.16.
Pacers have sent him back to the pavilion six times this year, further highlighting his struggle in Test cricket.
Performance analysis
Babar's slump in Test cricket
Notably, Babar's Test form has been on a downward spiral since December 2022.
His highest score during this period is 41 against Australia in the Melbourne Test in December 2023.
This is the 18th consecutive time Babar has been dismissed for a score below 50.
Since his 161-run knock versus New Zealand in December 2022, Babar's scores read: 14, 24, 27, 13, 24, 39, 21, 14, 1, 41, 26, 23, 0, 22, 31, 11, 30 and 5.
2024 performance
A look at Babar's numbers in 2024
In his fourth match of 2024, Babar has only scored 148 runs in eight innings, with a top score of just 31.
His average this year is a disappointing 18.50.
Despite hitting one duck this year and scoring over 20 runs in five out of eight innings, he has only crossed the 30-run mark twice.
Overall, Babar has raced to 3,997 Test runs at 43.92.