Babar Azam's struggles compared controversially to Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar's technique

Former Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Rashid Latif has ignited a fresh controversy by drawing stark comparisons between Indian legends Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar while revealing why Babar Azam has been struggling to come back into form.

Latif has highlighted the technical struggles of some of the biggest names in the game, including Sehwag to explain Babar Azam's horrific form, sparking questions on the foundation of batting prowess.

Is Babar Azam following in Virender Sehwag’s footsteps with technical struggles?

He highlighted a troubling pattern in Babar Azam's approach, as the Pakistani batting sensation has been going through lean patches across the formats for the past couple of years.

Unlike one of the all-time greats, Tendulkar, whose flawless technique allowed him to navigate through rough patches with ease, Babar Azam has found himself entangled in a web of uncertainty.

The former Pakistan wicketkeeper further said that Babar Azam's technical shortcomings are not allowing him to come out of his slump, even though he is attempting hard to do so, making him vulnerable.

Rashid Latif criticizes Azam’s technique, cites Sehwag's struggles

Latif also noted that the aggressive approach has compromised Babar’s shot selection, turning what was once his strength into weakness. Well, the comparison didn’t stop at Babar, as Latif also pointed out that other legends like Sehwag also struggled due to technical shortcomings and took time to bounce back from the lean phase.

Known for his explosive style, the former Indian opener often took longer to regain form, and Latif believes that Babar is in the same league when it comes to coming out of the rough patches, but things were completely different with Tendulkar.

Latif feels Pakistan’s white-ball captain is falling prey to his own aggressive instincts, lacking the technical finesse. He has indirectly urged Babar to refine his technique before it’s too late, as he also failed to score in the ongoing two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home.

The right-handed batter scored only 22 runs in the first Test and managed only 31 and 11 runs in the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium.

Babar is literally failing to decide which ball to hit or leave: Latif

Rashid Latif was quoted as saying by Sports Tak: “It becomes really difficult for our players to come out of the poor form if there is some issue with their technique. I have seen many players going through a form slump, including Sachin Tendulkar."

"But since Sachin had a sound and good batting technique, he never took time to overcome the patchy form. On the other hand, players like Virender Sehwag used to take more time to come out of a lean patch. This is the difference between a better player and a comparatively less skilled player.”

Latif added, “Talking about Babar Azam, he was a skilled player, but in the face of a lean patch, he started charging the ball harder, which made his shot selection really tough."

"He never gets played on; he always gets troubled tinkering with the ball going away from him. He is literally failing to decide which ball to hit or leave. The entire problem in his batting lies here only.”