No batter who has debuted since 1990 shows as large a discrepancy between home and away averages, but his recent performance is negatively impacting his team.
Between 2015 and 2022, Pakistan’s leading batter scored 11,434 runs at an average of 50.37, with 28 centuries. While Virat Kohli (13,757 runs at 59.04) and Joe Root (12,088 runs at 49.13) had higher totals, Babar’s standout performance earned him a spot among the world’s top batsmen during this time.
However, Babar has since faced a scoring slump, which has coincided with his team’s disappointing performances in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the T20 World Cup earlier this year. Over two World Test Championship cycles, Pakistan has won only two of their last seven Tests, with Babar’s batting average falling to the mid-30s during this period.
On Wednesday, Babar’s 2024-25 Test season opener against Bangladesh saw him score his first duck at home and his first in Test cricket since 2021. This was his 18th duck in international cricket, with eight of these coming in 95 Test innings. By contrast, Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews, who batted at No. 4 against England on the same day, had his seventh duck in 195 innings—one fewer duck despite having 100 more innings.