The Pakistan national cricket team and captain Salman Ali Aga are grappling with a big question, and that is whether Babar Azam still fits into modern T20 cricket ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026? Pakistan will start its campaign against Netherlands on 7 February.
Well, the selection of Babar Azam for the T20 World Cup 2026 has surprised many people. In fact, the former Pakistan captain was dropped from the Asia Cup 2025 squad due to his struggles against spin and poor scoring rate pace and was recalled for the prestigious tournament.
Interestingly, those problems have not gone away, which is why there has been intense debate over his return for the T20 World Cup 2026. Even within the team, Salman and the team management are unsure about how Babar will fit into Pakistan’s attacking plans.
Salman Aga drops Babar Azam to number 4
That concern is now visible in the bold decision taken by Captain Salman Ali Aga. For the T20 World Cup 2026, Salman has locked himself in at No. 3, pushing Babar to No. 4. This change was first tested during Pakistan’s recent home T20I series against Australia.
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The idea behind this reshuffle is simple. Salman is seen as a strong player against spin and is more capable of scoring quickly in the middle overs, especially in subcontinent conditions where slow bowling dominates the early stages. That is why he has moved up the batting order to gain control in the middle overs and even during the powerplay when needed.
Babar has been named at No. 4 to play the role of a stabilizer in case of early wicket fall and handle the fast bowling later in the innings. And he will continue to bat in the same position in the mega event. This move also confirms that Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan are ready to open for Pakistan. The move made it clear that Pakistan no longer sees Babar as the main attacking batsman at the top.
Pakistan is suffering the consequences of Babar Azam’s low strike rate.
The biggest concern remains Babar’s slow scoring rate. This issue is following them everywhere and is now the biggest headache for Pakistan before the T20 World Cup 2026. In the 2025–26 Big Bash League, Babar struggled badly, scoring at a slow strike rate near 103 and an average of just over 22. The problems continued in the recent T20I series against Australia.
The right-handed batsman could score only 24 runs in the first match and only two runs in the second. However, in the final game, Babar showed his class by scoring an unbeaten half-century of 138 runs off 36 balls. That innings helped Pakistan register a massive 111-run win and a 3-0 clean sweep over Australia.
Also read: BCCI’s reaction to T20 World Cup 2026 controversy, PCB looking for a way to avoid ‘force majeure’
Will Babar Azam be the worst batsman in T20 World Cup 2026?
Azam is still Pakistan’s leading run-scorer in T20I cricket with 4,505 runs, but his strike rate of 128.38 continues to raise questions. The situation looks even worse in the T20 World Cup, where his strike rate drops to around 112, which is much lower than expected in the modern T20 game.
| Matchbox | it goes | highest score | strike rate | 100s/50s | |
| t20 | 139 | 4505 | 122 | 128.38 | 3/39 |
| t20 world cup | 17 | 549 | 70 | 111.35 | 0/5 |
