Babar Azam trolled by his own cousin: The Pakistan national cricket team is potentially out of the 2026 T20 World Cup after their defeat against the England national cricket team on Monday. They lost by two wickets, with Harry Brook scoring a brilliant century in the game to take his team to the semi-finals.
Pakistan have just one point from two matches after one loss and one washout. After the defeat, once again Babar Azam’s batting approach in the game was being called out for his slow strike rate, as he has been criticized for the kind of batting approach he has adopted in this tournament.
Babar Azam trolled by his family
Babar has failed to score a single half-century in this edition of the tournament. His highest-scoring game was against the United States during a group stage game, where he scored 46 runs. Babar has scored 91 runs in six matches at an average of 22.75, which has led many former cricketers and fans to debate his role in the team.
Babar Azam has faced trolls on social media, and recently from his own home, former Pakistan batsman Umar Akmal, who is also the former Pakistan captain’s cousin, took a dig at him by posting an Instagram story.
Omar Akmal’s Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/lD37YHOWat
– Sherry. (@CallMeSheri1_) 26 February 2026
The latter story has been interpreted by fans as a satirical comparison highlighting Babar’s struggles against quality opponents as well as Akmal’s performances, sparking debate on social media about the timing amid internal criticism and Pakistan’s recent failures.
Babar has failed to perform well on big occasions
The story reflects the batting approach of Umar Akmal and Babar Azam, as it takes us back to 2014 when Pakistan faced Australia, and the Men in Green were at 25/2, and from there Umar Akmal’s side were at 180/5 when the batsman was out for 94 off 54 balls. Pakistan won this match by 16 runs.
However, Pakistan were in a similar position against England on Monday when they were at the crease with the score at 32/2. He also shared a picture of himself when he was out after scoring 25 runs at a strike rate of 104 off 24 balls and the score was 73/3 after 11 overs.
Babar Azam’s T20 approach has been under scrutiny
Babar’s lack of intention to play big strokes is clearly visible. Babar Azam has failed to adapt to the dynamic T20 approach, and thus, he has failed to make an impact in the shortest format despite being the leading run scorer in the T20I format.
Babar’s overall T20 World Cup record now stands at 640 runs from 23 matches at an average of 33.68, including five half-centuries, and his strike rate at 111.5 is currently lower than Mohammad Hafeez (111.8), Kumar Sangakkara (112.2) and Kane Williamson (112.5).
Pakistan will have to win their next match against Sri Lanka by a big margin and hope that New Zealand loses the final game against England, which will make their chances of qualification a little easier.
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