Babar Azam - surprisingly - tops the list for the best batting average in 2026, but has he really been that good or do the numbers hide the real picture?
Babar Azam is having a bad year. At least, that is what the discourse floating around him would make you believe. His long wait for a Test hundred has become an everyday conversation, with Twitter stan accounts reminding us of the drought after every innings.
So when a message popped up claiming Babar had the highest Test batting average this year among batters with at least 10 innings, I was inclined to believe it was untrue and, well, AI-generated. But you know that restlessness? The one where you find yourself opening Statsguru at 11pm, selecting the year, applying the 10-innings filter and sorting by batting average, half expecting the myth to crash under the weight of your own scepticism?
But behold. There he was. Right at the top.
Babar has scored 489 runs in 12 innings, with five half-centuries and an average of 48.90. Harry Brook, next on the list, was at 46.50. These are not the numbers of a man in crisis. I was genuinely dumbfounded. Has the running narrative been unfair to him? Or were the numbers flattering to deceive?
Every cricket writer has learnt against coming to judgements based on mere averages. They are like group photos, where everyone looks fine until you zoom in and spot someone with their eyes closed, someone with food in their teeth, someone who has struck an awkward pose, and suddenly the picture cannot go up on social media.
Well, when you dive deeper into Babar's year, it has been exactly that: A collection of near-misses and a series of almosts. The kind that leaves fans perpetually frustrated because he has done enough to suggest the bad run is over, without really delivering the innings everyone is waiting for.
39 innings without a hundred ❌ Babar Azam is still waiting for his first Test century since his 161 against New Zealand in December 2022 🇵🇰 #Cricket #ENGvPAK https://t.co/AUmliXPnta
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 13, 2026
He began with 68 and 47 against Bangladesh in Sylhet. In the first innings, he chipped Nahid Rana to mid-on when a hundred was there for the taking. In the second, he looked at ease, striking at 90.38 before edging Taijul Islam down the leg side. Babar made 115 across the match, but Pakistan lost by 78 runs after failing to build a substantial first-innings lead.
In the West Indies, he made 23 in the first innings before producing 58* in the second. Pakistan were chasing 211 and collapsed to 120 all out, with Mohammad Abbas' 23 the only other double-digit score. Babar's handling of the tail attracted criticism as he kept exposing the lower order at the start of overs. But what exactly was he supposed to do? He surely couldn’t get the remaining runs on his own. Pakistan eventually lost by 90 runs, and Babar had at least offered some resistance.
His best chance to end the century drought came at Port of Spain. He made 88 before being run out following a mix-up with Abdullah Shafique. An unbeaten 24 in the second innings took his series tally to 193 at an average of 96.50, making him the series' highest run-scorer. It was an excellent return, but could he have done more to turn it into a defining series for Pakistan?
Babar missed the opening Test in England due to injury, but his first three innings after returning produced scores of eight, six and seven. He struggled against Jofra Archer's movement, and Josh Tongue's extra bounce troubled him further.
His 76 in the second innings at Birmingham was one of his better knocks in recent years. After Pakistan were bowled out for 133 in the first and slipped to 0-2 in their second innings, Babar helped steady the side and gave them something to build on. Razaullah stole the show thereafter, but Babar’s innings massively helped Pakistan reach 449, although it was not enough in the end.
Against Sri Lanka, he scored 50 and 34, another set of decent contributions, but they evaporated in a high-scoring match, particularly with Saud Shakeel making 93 and debutants Tayyab Arif and Mohammad Taha also scoring half-centuries. Once again, Babar had contributed, but he failed to have a big impact.
And that is the paradox of Babar's year. He has been consistent enough to top the batting average charts, but he has not produced the innings that would have changed a match. With the side struggling at the bottom of the World Test Championship table, Pakistan need him to be the batter around whom an innings can take shape. While a healthy average takes away some of the blame for the team’s disaster show away from Babar, a defining knock can do something numbers alone cannot: give his side belief.
Calling this a bad year for Babar, as I initially believed, would not be correct. His average of 48.90 is above his career Test mark of 43 and a significant improvement on 2024 and 2025, when he averaged 20.20 and 31.50, respectively. His numbers also stand up against those of his peers. Among the 27 batters with at least 10 Test innings this year, only two average over 45. Brook follows Babar at 46.50, with Mushfiqur Rahim at 44.16. The group has managed just 13 hundreds between them, and even Brook, the leading run-scorer with 558, is yet to score one. Overall, it has been a difficult year for established Test batters, not just Babar. To be the leading batter in that company, even in a year that has not been his best, is no small feat.
Yet the expectations around Babar are different. His last Test century came in December 2022, and the wait has become such a big part of the conversation that his half-centuries often go under the radar. Sorry to bring in Virat Kohli here, but it’s akin to his slump, where the pressure to go bigger never left him. Perhaps that is the burden of being the team's biggest star: It isn’t just about scoring runs; you need to make them count in a situation that matters.
So, has Babar had a good year? By his recent standards, certainly. Has he been at his best? It would be foolish to think so. Pakistan are not necessarily waiting for another big number next to his name. They want an innings that brings some joy back, lifts the team, gives the supporters a reason to celebrate and breaks the gloom that has settled around their cricket. King Babar needs to make them hopeful again, and merely topping the average charts is not enough.
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