How much has Babar Azam really slipped?

Talk of a domestic slump for Babar Azam meets an awkward run of Peshawar Zalmi innings. In men's T20s, he made an unbeaten 100 against Quetta Gladiators and, later, 103 against Islamabad United. On 3 May, he made a first-ball duck against Hyderabad Kingsmen. The last image is stark, but it does a poor job of explaining what came before it. Anyone arguing that Babar has lost the habit of building a score has to account for those two hundreds.

The innings behind the argument

That Peshawar Zalmi sequence was uneven. Earlier, Babar made 43 off 40 balls against Lahore Qalandars, an innings that gives his critics a more useful example than the duck. He also made an unbeaten 87 against Karachi Kings. A first-ball exit says little about his scoring pace; the long innings against Lahore gives us something to judge. The concern is how many runs Babar makes when he stays at the crease.

The standard he set

Across men's T20s over the last two years, Babar's batting average is 36.4 from 52 innings, below his career average of 41.15 from 296 innings. That is a decline against his own standard. Against the top-seven batting benchmark of 23.51, his recent average remains well ahead. The innings against Islamabad United and Quetta Gladiators fit that broader picture: his capacity for a substantial score has survived the fall from his career level. Calling his batting a collapse asks too much of the final duck.

Where the criticism holds

His scoring rate is the stronger concern. Babar's strike rate over the last two years is 127.2, compared with 130.1 for top-seven batters in men's T20s. His career strike rate is 128.7, so this issue predates the duck. The 43 off 40 against Lahore Qalandars makes it tangible. Babar has slipped from his own standard, especially in scoring pace, while those two Peshawar Zalmi hundreds show he can still build an innings. The domestic dip is real, but claims of a collapse go too far.