Babar Azam was bowled for a three-ball duck in the second match of the three-game ODI series against the West Indies, extending his relatively poor run of form in the format.
West Indies put Pakistan in to bat in the second ODI after losing the first by five wickets. Saim Ayub (23 off 31) and Abdullah Shafique got the visitors off to a decent start, but Jayden Seales struck in the ninth over, getting Ayub to nick behind to slip.
Babar, in at No.3, couldn't survive Seales' probing spell either. After defending two balls, he was cleaned up off the third in the same over, playing a full delivery down the wrong line. The double-strike reduced Pakistan to 37-2, bringing captain Mohammad Rizwan to the crease. At the time of writing, Pakistan were 50-2 from 14 overs.
2nd ODI, West Indies vs Pakistan
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Babar Azam's century-drought continues
This was the fifth duck of Babar's ODI career, the last one having come against Afghanistan in August 2023. Back then, Babar recovered from that score of zero with two back-to-back fifties against the same opponents, followed by a mammoth 151 against Nepal in the 2023 Asia Cup, on August 30, 2023.
That hundred against Nepal remains Babar's last one in international cricket so far.
Since then, the former Pakistan captain has scored 929 runs from 28 ODI innings at an average of 37.16 and strike rate of 79.53 (both metrics far below his career average and strike rate of 54.62 and 87.78), including nine 50-plus scores but no score above 78.
Before this stretch of poor form - at least by Babar's lofty standards - he had smashed 19 tons in 102 ODI innings, to go with 37 fifties.
Also read: Babar's ODI problem isn't intent alone, it's skill
ODIs aren't the only format where Babar lost form post the 2023 Asia Cup. Since that Nepal game, Babar's Test batting average reads 23.15 from 10 matches, with no hundreds and three fifties. In T20Is, he has managed 738 runs at 33.54 and 133.21 from 24 matches in this period.
To add to the turmoil, Babar has gone through cycles of taking up and relinquishing captaincy, as well getting dropped from the Test and T20I teams before eventually returning in the longest format.
Across formats, Babar has 31 hundreds. However, the wait for the 32nd, which has already lasted nearly two years now, will continue for the moment.
Babar Azam's international record as of August 10, 2025
| Record till the Nepal game in Asia Cup 2023 | Record after the Nepal game in Asia Cup 2023 | |||||||||||
| Format | Inns | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s | Inns | Runs | Avg | SR | 100s | 50s |
| ODIs | 130 | 6282 | 54.62 | 87.78 | 19 | 37 | 28 | 929 | 37.16 | 79.53 | 0 | 9 |
| T20Is | 121 | 4223 | 39.83 | 129.22 | 3 | 36 | 20 | 463 | 23.15 | 48.63 | 0 | 3 |
| Tests | 108 | 4235 | 42.77 | 54.37 | 9 | 29 | 23 | 738 | 33.54 | 133.21 | 0 | 6 |
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