Basit Ali has questioned Babar Azam’s standing after another disappointing Test, saying reputation and fan following alone do not make a player great.
Pakistan lost the Lord’s Test by 194 runs, played from 27 to 30 August 2026, which gave England an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Babar came back into the XI after a finger injury that had kept him out of the first Test, but he made only 8 and 6.
The dismissal and the criticism
His second-innings exit drew particular criticism. He tried a half-pull against a Jofra Archer bouncer and miscued it, which led Basit to question his decision-making at a key moment.
On The Game Plan, Basit argued that greatness cannot rest on name and following, especially when a player struggles in hard periods. He pointed to Babar’s lengthy Test century drought and asked when he will step up for Pakistan when the team needs him. He also criticised him for getting out to what he saw as an avoidable shot.
Form in the numbers
Babar’s 2026 Test record has been uneven. Before Lord’s he had scored 322 runs from eight Tests in the year. He had shown improvement against the West Indies, scoring 193 runs at an average of 96.50, including two half-centuries, in the series that ended on 5 August.
He also held a strong record against England before this match, averaging 53.83 from 14 innings with at least a fifty in seven of them. In six earlier innings in England he averaged 65.75 and made three half-centuries.
Against those standards, 8 and 6 at Lord’s fell well short, and the pressure on the Pakistan batter continues to grow.
