When Pakistan takes flight to South Africa to take on a two-match Test series beginning October 12, all eyes will be focused on Babar Azam – the man spearheading the shaky Pakistan middle order. But the left-arm bowler is arousing alarm in the camp with the recent record of the dashing right-hander.
Babar has been dismissed 27 times by left-armers in Tests in 73 innings at an average of 42.6. The 2025 drop is a bit more alarming, at 23 on average and four dismissals already in 2021. This weakness could be used by South Africa’s attack, armed with the bounce and swing of Marco Jansen and the drift and turn of Senuran Muthusamy, to devastating effect.
Babar has been sent down twice with only 26 runs in 60 deliveries, and that is without further conditioning with Jansen, who has had a shocking average of 13. His style of moving the ball across and dipping it back on the right is another right-hand trap. In the case of Babar, it will be essential to control that internalization at that point.
In the meantime, Muthusamy will exploit Babar propensity to hold back at the crease. He will be in charge of the spin without Keshav Maharaj and hopes that the dragging footwork of the subcontinent star will give him an opportunity.
The next series is not only a test of ability, but a test of wit to the captain-in-waiting of Pakistan. Provided that Babar will be able to endure the left-arm pace of Jansen as well as the deception of Muthusamy, it may become the beginning of his redemption process following T20 losses. However, in case history repeats itself, the batting hopes of Pakistan could break early, and the question before the selectors is what happened with the much-feted batter?
