Babar Azam records 8th duck in 1st Test against Bangladesh as horror run of form continues

Pakistan were off to a shaky start batting first in their first Test against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi on Wednesday. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto won the toss and chose to bowl first. The hosts were then reduced to a score of 16/3 in 8.2 overs with fast bowlers Shoriful Islam and Hasan Mahmud giving their side a dream start. Shoriful took two wickets, with the second of those being that of former Pakistan captain and talisman Babar Azam for a duck.

While wicketkeeper Litton Das took a stunner of a catch, it was a delivery that Babar could have just let go. Babar was facing just his second delivery of his innings and it was short and going down the leg side. The former Pakistan Test captain took a lunge at it and got an inside edge to Litton's left.

A worrying run of form

It was Babar's eighth Test duck and the first time he was dismissed without scoring at home in international red-ball cricket. It is part of a worrying dip in form for the star batter. Babar had averaged 58.67 in Tests between 2019 and December 2022. In this time, he plundered runs all over the world and not just at home, over 50 in Australia, nearly 50 in England and West Indies, nearly 70 in Sri Lanka and over 80 in Pakistan.

Since then, though, he has averaged 37.41 and has scored just one hundred and three fifties in nine Tests. His poor form in red-ball cricket has also spilled over into other formats and this also comes at a time when Babar's status as Pakistan's captain in all forms of the game was ended. He was rather unimpressive in the 2023 World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup.

Delayed start

The first Test was off to a delayed start due to a wet outfield. The two umpires -- Richard Kettleborough of England and Adrian Holdstock of South Africa -- made four inspections of the ground but found wet patches due to overnight rain, deemed dangerous for play. No play was possible before lunch with 230 minutes of play lost, curtailing the day to 48 overs. The weather forecast for all five days is not encouraging with rain and bad light predicted.

Pakistan entered the Test with four fast bowlers in all-pace attack with no frontline spinner while Bangladesh included three pacers and two spinners. The two-match series is part of the nine-team World Test championship with Pakistan currently sixth in the standings and Bangladesh eighth.