Babar Azam (Source: AFP)
Pakistan batter Babar Azam endured a horrific run of form in his team’s recently concluded T20 World Cup 2026 campaign. He was one of the players who failed drastically to deliver in the marquee international tournament.
He has also been facing severe criticism for his miserable run of form in the T20 World Cup 2026. In a shocking turnaround of team management’s decisions, Babar Azam was also dropped from the Pakistan playing XI in their last Super-8 match against Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, for cricket fans, it's more surprising that Babar Azam has recently been given another major responsibility in Pakistan. What’s harder for cricket experts and fans to believe is that he has been given this role in the same format in which he failed to deliver at the World Cup.
Babar Azam likely to lead a side in National T20 Cup 2026
The reports in the Pakistani media suggest that Babar Azam can be seen playing as captain for Lahore Region Whites in the National T20 Cup 2026. The domestic T20 tournament is scheduled to start on Thursday, February 5.
The Babar Azam-led Lahore Region Whites will take on the Peshawar Region in the tournament opener at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Notably, Lahore Region Whites qualified for the quarter-finals in the tournament’s previous edition.
But the Mohammad Akhlaq-led Lahore Whites were knocked out of the tournament after losing to Abbottabad Region by six wickets in the first quarter-final. Now, the management is aiming to improve the team's performance under Babar Azam’s leadership.
Another forgettable T20 World Cup campaign for Babar Azam
Contrary to the reports of Babar Azam leading Lahore Region Whites in the National T20 Cup 2026, a lot of former cricketers and experts have criticised his batting approach in the very crucial matches for Pakistan. His poor strike rate has been one of the talking points in Pakistan’s recent World T20 campaign.
Babar could score just 91 runs in four innings at a below-par average of just 22.75 and a sluggish strike rate of 112.34. He ended up as one of the weak links in the Pakistan cricket team rather than a winning force in a major ICC tournament.
Also Read: Babar Azam's 3 Potential Replacements In Pakistan Team
Pakistan team management likely to axe Babar from national team
Although Babar Azam’s appearance in the National T20 Cup will promote Pakistan’s domestic cricket, the senior team management is expected to sideline the 31-year-old from the national cricket team. A report by Geo Super suggests that the batter might be in the firing line after the team's embarrassing World T20 exit.
The report further claims that Babar, alongside opener Saim Ayub and all-rounder Mohammad Nawaz, could be dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the ODIs against Bangladesh. After being dropped from the playing XI at the T20 World Cup, it could be another setback for Babar Azam amid his struggling form.
Speaking of Babar’s batting form in the white-ball format for the last few years, he has played 23 ODIs since the ODI World Cup 2023 and 22 T20Is since the T20 World Cup 2024. In this span, he has scored 772 runs in 23 ODI innings at an average of 38.6, hitting only one century and five half-centuries.
In T20Is since World T20 2024, he has aggregated just 451 runs in 20 innings at an average of just 26.52 and a strike rate of 118.99. In these appearances, he has scored just three half-centuries.
