Babar Azam’s Struggle Against Short Balls Exposed on Flat Pitch

On a pitch built for batting glory, Babar Azam walked straight back into a familiar nightmare.

Pakistan finally showed some resistance in the final Test against England, grinding out more than 400 in their second innings on what was widely described as the flattest surface of the year. It should have been the stage for their captain to cash in, to turn a fluent start into the kind of imposing hundred that can drag a series back from the brink.

Instead, the short ball found him again.

A Gift On A Road, Thrown Away

Babar moved to 76, Pakistan still 42 runs adrift of England’s first-innings 453, the game delicately poised. The scenario demanded a long, ruthless stay: a senior batter, in control, batting deep enough to flip the pressure.

Josh Tongue had other ideas. Or rather, the same idea.

Having removed Babar for just seven in the first innings, the England seamer went back to the now-familiar plan: bang it in short, with the field set for the miscued hook or the mistimed pull. Babar obliged. Again.

On a surface offering almost nothing to the quicks, Pakistan’s marquee batter turned a golden chance into another soft surrender. This wasn’t a devilish spell on a spicy deck. It was a simple, telegraphed routine, executed against a man who could not decide whether to pull, hook, or sway out of the line.

The reaction was instant – and unforgiving.

Hussain’s Verdict: A Masterclass Beside A Meltdown

In the commentary box, Nasser Hussain went straight for the contrast that everyone could see.

“You bowl short to Saud Shakeel, and he goes down straight away. You bowl short to Babar Azam, and he doesn’t know whether to pull, hook, or leave,” Hussain said, highlighting the gulf in clarity between the two Pakistan batters at the crease. “At the moment, Saud Shakeel is giving him a masterclass.”

One man ducking decisively. The other frozen, caught between options. On a flat pitch, that indecision looked damning.

For a player of Babar’s stature and experience, this is no longer just a lean patch. It is a recurring technical and mental fault, exposed in the most public way. When the same bowler, with the same method, removes you twice in the same Test on a surface made for batting, the criticism writes itself.

Fans Turn, Frustration Boils Over

Social media did the rest.

“Babar Azam got trapped in the short ball plan and gifted his wicket after playing a fine knock…” one fan wrote, echoing the sense that a senior pro had simply handed England an opening they had no right to get on that pitch.

Others were blunter. “ANOTHER EMBARRASSING WAY TO GET OUT, BABAR AZAM. - Literally threw his wicket away,” posted another, capturing the anger of supporters who have watched the same dismissal too many times.

“You’d have thought that Babar Azam would be too experienced to have repeatedly fallen into England’s short ball trap,” came one pointed tweet, disbelief laced with disappointment. A decade of international cricket, multiple series against the same attack, and yet the same trap keeps snapping shut.

The context made it worse. This was Edgbaston at its flattest, a road by any measure. One fan summed up the mood: “Babar Azam missed out on big runs. Flattest pitch of the year. He had an easy hundred for the taking. And possibly more.”

Even comparisons within his own dressing room cut deep. With debutant Razatullah (also referred to as Razaullah) set to finish the series with a better average than his captain, one supporter couldn’t resist the jab: “So Razaullah will end up with more average than Babar Azam in this series 😭😭.”

For a batter once seen as Pakistan’s immovable anchor in red-ball cricket, this is uncharted territory. The criticism is no longer about aesthetics or tempo. It’s about basic game sense and responsibility.

A Technical Flaw, Or Something Deeper?

Strip away the noise and the picture is stark.

Each time an England quick digs the ball into the surface with the leg-side trap waiting, Babar’s feet stall. His options blur. The ball climbs, the brain hesitates, and the dismissal feels inevitable. It is the kind of pattern opposition analysts dream of: a clear, repeatable weakness, under pressure, against a specific plan.

“Chronic indecision” is how some have framed it, and that phrase fits. At this level, a top-order batter cannot afford to be caught in two minds every time the ball is banged in short. Not when deep fielders are in place, not when the plan is obvious from the first over of the spell.

Tongue’s repeated success against him only sharpens the focus. This is not an unsolved puzzle across formats and continents. It is one bowler, in one series, exposing the same flaw again and again.

A Captain Under The Microscope

All of this lands heavier because of the armband.

As captain and premier batter, Babar is expected to set the tone, to soak up pressure and give Pakistan’s innings structure. Instead, his dismissals have become flashpoints, triggering collapses and inviting questions about both his technique and his leadership.

With England needing just 130 runs to win the third Test and complete a whitewash, his failure to bat long on a benign surface looms large. Pakistan did well to clear 400, but their captain’s exit at 76 felt like the moment the chance of something truly imposing slipped away.

Opposition captains will have taken note. Until Babar confronts this flaw head-on – in the nets, in his mindset, in his shot selection – they will keep rolling out the same field, the same short-ball ploy, and wait for the same result.

On a road of a pitch, with an “easy hundred” there for the taking, Babar Azam walked into the trap again. The question now is brutally simple: does he find an answer, or does this become the defining weakness teams build their entire plan around?