Table of Contents
Ramiz Raja, the former Pakistan player, slammed Babar Azam for not being able to adjust to changes of pace in deliveries and getting dismissed rather recklessly despite a promising start.
Pakistan batters could not play a single promising knock throughout this series, as they have not managed to go past the score put on by the Bangladesh batters across all three innings of the series so far. They have, hence, lost the previous match.
Pakistan, which has never made its way into the WTC final in the history of the competition, might not make their way to the top this time as well, as they have slipped down to the eighth position after being docked an additional eight-point penalty following their slow over-rate in the last game.
Babar Azam was deceived by Nahid Rana's slower delivery.
Pakistan has included Babar Azam back into the side in the second Test of the series, after the player was kept out of the playing XI in the first game due to an injury. Babar was, however, fit and available for the second game; hence, he replaced Imam-ul-Haq in the XI.
Coming into the second Test, he scored a half-century to secure Bangladesh's falling innings, which at one stage looked pretty inconsistent. This marked his 20th half-century in WTC history, which made his record equal to the likes of English opener Zak Crawley and Australian legend Steve Smith.
Nahid Rana, the lanky fast bowler, returned with a second spell to deceive Babar Azam, who was batting on 68 at that time. The batter was deceived by the change in pace of the delivery and, hence, looking to work it down to the leg side; he top-edged it to Mushfiqur Rahim at mid-on.
"You've spoiled the whole session by giving your wicket."Ramiz Raja slams Babar Azam despite a promising half-century.
While Pakistan batters had struggled in the match anyway, Babar remained the only batter who could surpass the score of 30 in that top order. Despite having made a formidable start to their innings, Babar was dismissed rather callously.
Ramiz Raja pointed out that Babar is a very experienced player and should have the basic idea to judge the change in pace. After one tackles a quick delivery, he should also be ready to keep a slower ball down. However, pace is what turned out to be his biggest weakness, said Raza.
"You've spoiled the whole session by giving away your wicket. You've been playing Pakistan for so long now that you've tackled the pace of 149 kph; therefore, you should know that the bowler will slow down his pace in the middle, but you don't have any plan for it. The pace is both his strength & weakness, and smart teams know his weaknesses. He had to work on it," said Ramiz Raja on Babar Azam's dismissal.
Bangladesh claims a 46-run lead over Pakistan on Day 2 of the Second Test.
Pakistan has already lost the first Test, and that has resulted in a massive blow to their WTC campaign. Skipper Shan Masood had claimed that the lack of impact from the pacers and low pace had resulted in the defeat for the Pakistanis.
After Babar Azam's dismissal on this occasion, the Pakistan team collapsed again, with the lower middle order failing to put on a show with the bat. Sajid Khan, the spinner, helped Pakistan reduce their trail, but despite his cameo, Pakistan wound up their innings for 232 runs, thus trailing by 46 runs by the end of their innings.
ALSO READ: PBKS vs RCB Impact Players Today: Toss Report, Playing XIs, Latest Updates IPL 2026 Match 61
