“Lost his power, ball striking ability”- Ricky Ponting criticizes Babar Azam after his flop show in T20 World Cup 2026

Ricky Ponting, legendary Australian batter and multiple time World Cup winning captain, has slammed Babar Azam after his flop show in Pakistan’s opening match of the T20 World Cup 2026, against Netherlands on February 7. 

After his 18-ball, 15-run innings in Pakistan's opening T20 World Cup match, Babar Azam's form, batting order, and even place in the starting lineup are being questioned.

Ricky Ponting alleged that Babar Azam has lost his power to hit big shots, hampering his ball striking abilities. 

“It just to me looks like he’s lost a bit of his power, his ball striking ability, like taking on that spinner on the way he did and not being able to even go close to clearing it,” Ponting said in a conversation with Ravi Shastri and Sanjana Ganesan on the latest episode of The ICC Review.  

“If you’re 15 off 18 balls, you’re not just putting pressure on yourself, you’re putting pressure on the guy at the other end. The guy at the other end knows that he’s got to be the one to take up the boundary scoring. Babar needs to hit boundaries early on. He needs to get off and going, he needs two boundaries in his first six balls, otherwise the whole momentum of the game is going to change every time he goes in,” he stated.

Ponting talked about how the first game against the Dutch had altered his opinion on Babar.

“I defended him at the start of the tournament … a big name player in a big events … experience, you need (those players) in your side if you’re going to win. But Pakistan need the best version of Babar Azam if they’re going to go further in this tournament,” Ponting added.

Ricky Ponting also shared that Babar Azam should be batting at no.3 that allows him more chances to play in the powerplay to clear the field.

“I would even think about batting him at No.3. I think the earlier he goes in to bat, if he can get some time inside the Powerplay with the field up, I think that’s going to help him because if he has just lost that little bit of power, then you need everything in your favour. So having only two fielders out would help him. The guys that (are) batting after him have got plenty of power anyway. They can take advantage of those middle overs with the spinners on and the fielders out,” Ponting concluded.

Pakistan will next face USA in Colombo on February 10.

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