Babar Azam Openly Criticised For Pakistan's Fast Bowling Decline

Babar Azam called out by Pakistani commentator [Source: AFP]

Pakistan and high-quality fast bowling have gone hand in hand throughout their cricketing history. World-class pacers have consistently emerged from the Asian giants’ conveyor belt, ripping through the opponents.

However, this ability to produce world-class pacers has deserted them in recent years, and that was evident on Day 1 of Pakistan’s tour of England. On a pitch where Ollie Robinson and Josh Tongue terrorised the Pakistan batters, the visitors failed to replicate anything close to that when England batted.

This dip in quality can be attributed to several factors, and former player-turned-broadcaster Urooj Mumtaz has called out Babar Azam for it.

Babar Azam blamed for Pakistan’s lacklustre fast bowling

Elaborating on the dire situation of Pakistan’s current crop of fast bowlers on Day 1 of the ongoing Headingley Test, Urooj Mumtaz felt the way PCB prepares pitches at home is a concern.

This was evident when England toured Pakistan in 2024 and racked up 800 runs in an innings, but then rank-turners were made for Pakistan to come back and win the series 2-1. She believes fast bowling is not their strength anymore.

“So there's obviously a problem with the pitches that we prepare back home. One of the examples of that was England touring Pakistan both times around," said Urooj.

“For me, it is very hard to believe that Pakistan's quick bowling is not the strength. It has always been the strength,” she noted before calling out Babar Azam and the batters. “We've gone so far away from it because our batters, um, especially when Babar was captain, wanted flatter tracks, wanted the batsmen sort of dominated the way things ran more.”

Furthermore, she took shots on the first-class structure back home, where the grass is completely taken off the pitches, making it difficult to produce fast bowlers.

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Where is Pakistan’s pace battery?

In the past decade or so, Pakistan pacers, especially the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Naseem Shah, showed a lot of promise and were fast-tracked into the first team in their teens.

However, on the tour of England in 2026, neither is part of the squad, while 36-year-old Mohammad Abbas leads the attack. 

Notably, Abbas is predominantly a pacer, who relies on his accuracy in lines and lengths rather than the pace associated with Pakistan bowlers.

Shaheen could not really return to his best since his knee struggles in 2021, and despite being a part of the white-ball setup, he was dropped from the Test team ahead of the England series. 

Naseem Shah has not played any Test matches since December 2024 due to poor performances.

Is Babar Azam responsible for pacers' downfall?

Since Babar Azam became the Test captain, he has not been a serial winner, but boasts a decent record of 11 wins and 7 losses in 22 Tests.

Under his captaincy, Shaheen Afridi has been their best-performing bowler, with 64 scalps in 27 innings, at an average of 20.81. These are really good numbers for any pacer.

However, among the next 5-6 best bowlers under him are Hasan Ali, who is not known for his express pace and 4 spinners apart from Naseem Shah - who has also only been average.

(Pakistan's best-performing Test bowlers under Babar Azam)

This is the concern that Urooj spoke about. The blame does not entirely lie on Babar Azam, but he has surely played a part in creating a batter-friendly culture in Pakistan cricket, as the most prominent name in the team.

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