Top News

Babar Azam vs England: In the second innings of the third Test being played against England at the Edgbaston ground in Birmingham, Pakistani captain Babar Azam came close to his first Test century after three years, but a poor shot selection dashed his hopes. Due to which Babar returned to the pavilion after scoring 76 runs and remained just 24 runs away from his 10th Test century. With this, the wait for Babar’s century in Test cricket has become longer. He scored his last century in Test in December 2022 against New Zealand in Karachi.

This is how the wicket was lost after positive intent

Babar looked completely different during the second innings at Edgbaston. He confidently scored fours against the three fast bowlers of England, Olly Robinson, Joffra Archer and Josh Tong. Babar was under tremendous pressure after being bowled for just 5 runs in the first innings and scoring only 8 and 6 runs in the Lord’s Test. But in the second innings of this match, Babar completed his half-century in 76 balls. He made an important partnership of 89 runs for the fourth wicket with Shan Masood, due to which the Pakistani team was successful in crossing the 200-run mark for the first time in six innings on this tour.

When it seemed that Babar would easily complete his century, England’s fast bowler Josh Tong netted a short-pitched ball. In the 63rd over of the innings, Tong hit a sharp bouncer at chest height on the leg-stump. But instead of avoiding the ball, Babar turned to glide it towards fine leg, when the ball took the edge of his gloves and went into the hands of the wicketkeeper. This was the third time in four innings of this series when Josh Tong showed Babar Azam the way to the pavilion.

Questions raised again on technology

Former England fast bowler Stuart Broad, who was commenting on Babar’s dismissal, strongly criticized his technique. Broad said, ‘This highlights a major weakness in his game, as was seen against Jofra Archer at Lord’s. It was a really bad shot. Let us tell you, in the last match also, he was out on a bouncer against Joffra Archer, that is why he tried to play the ball in a strange way.