Babar Azam, Fakhar Zaman create unwanted powerplay record for PAK with sluggish batting

Pakistan create unwanted record [Source: AFP Photo]

The Pakistan team had a successful ODI campaign against South Africa recently as they captured the series, 2-1, in Faisalabad. As a result of this newfound confidence, the Shaheen Afridi-led side was expected to play a positive brand of cricket against Sri Lanka; however, the spectators witnessed a slow and sluggish knock from their top three batters.

On a Rawalpindi wicket that had something for the pacers in the early going, the Sri Lankan bowlers troubled the Pakistan batters as run-scoring became a difficult task. Saim Ayub, the opener who was excellent against South Africa, departed for 6 off 14 balls, and with his wicket, the other two batters, Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman, went in a shell.

Babar, Fakhar's sluggish batting takes Pakistan to unwanted territory

The Sri Lankan bowlers delivered at right lines and lengths, and the result was that Pakistan created an unwanted record and registered their joint-second lowest powerplay score in ODIs vs Sri Lanka.

The team scored just 28 runs for the loss of 1 wicket as Babar, and Fakhar played a defensive brand of cricket to punish their own side. The lowest powerplay score by Pakistan vs Sri Lanka is 19/3, an unwanted feat the side achieved in 2014.

At one stage, Babar and Fakhar played three consecutive maiden overs, a feat that is a rare sight to see in ODIs.

Performance pressure took a toll on Babar, Fakhar

Both Babar and Fakhar, two of the most experienced players in the ODI setup, have been going through a rough patch. Fakhar has had injury issues, and the batter has only accumulated 204 runs this year, before this ODI match.

Babar, on the other hand, has been struggling for form, and in 2025, the batter has only scored 379 runs in 14 matches, with an average of 27. The two players are searching for form, and as a result, they were afraid to play an aggressive brand of cricket, and it indirectly worked in Sri Lanka’s favour as they continued to push the two batters on the back-foot.

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