Babar Azam is once again in the middle of a T20 debate in Pakistan after he was snubbed during a vital ICC Men’s T20 world cup 2026 group stage match against Namibia. Head coach Mike Hesson publicly attributed the move to his powerplay strike rate, which has not been more than 100 in the tournament.
Dubois has 66 run scores in three innings with a strike rate of 115.78. Those figures are not catastrophic, but they are lower than in the present day T20. The scrutiny was aggravated by his wary seven-ball five loss against India, in a heavy 61-run loss.
Pakistan were not out of place against Namibia with the score at 107/2 in 12.1 overs. Sahibzada Farhan was positioned and the team required to be accelerated. Management gave promotion to Khawaja Nafay and Shadab Khan instead of sending Babar at No.4. It was a tactical call. Hesson acknowledged that the Babar has the skill set of anchoring and not late-over hitting.
This ruling is an indicator of a change in the T20 philosophy of Pakistan. The team seems to be putting more emphasis on impact rather than reputation. Another aspect that Hesson explained is that Babar knows his prescribed role. We had to stabilise innings and not to blow up in the powerplay, that is why he was brought back into the middle order following the ACC Men’s T20 Asia Cup 2025 heartbreak.
Nevertheless, tempo is the actual problem. Strike rate usually beats averages in T20 cricket particularly in World Cups. Pakistan cannot do any slow rebuilds in the quest to go after big totals or establish competitive scores.
This strategy will be put to the test in the next Super Eights against New Zealand. Whenever Pakistan marginalises Babar at important times, then the doubts on his optimal position will be amplified.
In the meantime, management has a point. Team balance comes first. Reputation comes second.
