PAK vs ENG: Multan pitch proves fruitful for other batters, but Babar Azam falls short again; faces trolls and backlash

Multan Cricket Stadium - also called by fans the "National Highway" pitch for the way runs are being scored saw former Pakistan skipper Babar Azam get trolled for not scoring runs even in Multan. In the 1st T20I clash against England, Babar Azam was dismissed for just 5 runs off 15 balls in the second innings while in the 1st innings, he departed for 30 off 71.

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This dismissal marked Babar's 18th consecutive innings without a half-century in Tests, extending his drought since his last score of over 50, which came on December 26, 2022, when he scored 161 against New Zealand in Karachi. Since then, Babar has batted 18 times, accumulating just 366 runs at an average of 20.33, with a highest score of 41 against Australia at the MCG.

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Seeing players like Abdullah Shafique (102 in the first innings), skipper Shan Masood (151 in the first innings), Agha Salman (104 in the first innings), Joe (262), and Harry Brook (317) score runs in this match, it was shocking that the star batter for the Men in Green has not managed to get the desired runs on the board. Fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to troll the batter for his poor performance.

Following Babar's dismissal, Pakistan faced a batting collapse in the 2nd innings as Saim Ayub was out on the very next ball, attempting a big shot against Brydon Carse and being caught by Ben Duckett. Mohammad Rizwan also fell cheaply for 10. At stumps on Day 4, Pakistan got 152 runs on the board but also lost 6 wickets. They trail by 115 runs.

Earlier, England posted a staggering total of 823 runs for 7 declared, the fourth-highest score in Test history, after Pakistan's first-innings total of 556. 

Teams:

Pakistan (Playing XI): Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood(c), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan(w), Agha Salman, Aamer Jamal, Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, Abrar Ahmed

England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope(c), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith(w), Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir

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