Pakistan captain Babar Azam is going through a difficult period as his performance is not yielding the desired results. Following a heavy defeat against England in the match at Lord's, Babar suffered a significant blow to his position in the ICC Tests ranking. He had been in good form for a long time, but his recent performances have been unsatisfactory.
Due to consistent batting failures, he has once again fallen outside the top-10 ranking of Test players. In both innings of the Lord's match, Babar managed to score only 14 runs. This disappointing result led him to drop five places, settling at 15th in the rankings.
Interestingly, just two months ago, in August, he returned to the top-10 after playing well against the West Indies. However, this happiness was short-lived.
Babar Azam's scoring has been silent for a long time. Since December 2022, he has failed to score a century in Test matches. This dry spell has lasted for 36 matches, raising constant questions about his form in red-ball matches.
The overall performance of the Pakistani team at Lord's was also extremely low. In the first innings, the team scored only 110 runs, and in the second, chasing a target of 389 runs, they managed only 194. England won the match by a margin of 194 runs, thus securing an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Despite Babar Azam's declining figures, some players from the Pakistani team achieved significant improvements in their rankings after the Lord's match. Saud Shakeel, who played an impressive and tenacious innings scoring 97 runs in the second innings, gained 15 positions and now ranks 18th. Fast bowler Mohammad Abbas took 9 wickets, leading to a jump of 10 positions, placing him 15th in the bowlers' rankings. Mohammad Ali, who took 5 wickets, also improved his standing by 11 places, reaching 81st.
Even if some players' rankings improved, this series proved to be a nightmare for Pakistan. The third and final match of the series is scheduled for September 9th in Birmingham (Edgbaston). If the Pakistani team fails to win or draw this match, its chances of success will be completely exhausted.