Babar Azam to miss the National T20 Cup after being named in Lahore Whites squad

Babar Azam will not play in the ongoing National T20 Cup, sources have revealed. The right-handed batter will instead take part in individual training sessions with coaches to regain his lost form. It is understood that the team management has advised Babar to take a brief break from competitive cricket, which is also believed to be the reason behind his absence from the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.

Babar won’t play for the Whites

Earlier, the National T20 Cup team Lahore Whites named Babar in their squad for the competition. However, two games in, the top-order batter was nowhere to be seen in the tournament. Babar has reportedly already informed the Whites of his unavailability.

Babar, who is part of Peshawar Zalmi, will return to competitive cricket in the Pakistan Super League (PSL), set to begin on March 26.

Babar’s lean patch

Once deemed one of the best modern batters for Pakistan, if not globally, Babar’s career has spiralled downward across formats. His recent run in the T20 World Cup, where he scored at a 20-odd average with a pedestrian strike rate, has almost choked his chances of playing in the shortest format. 

What’s more is that the decline in his form has been consistently proportionate to the performance of Pakistan as a team.

More by the author:Why Babar Azam’s recent form is a concern for Pakistan ahead of upcoming ICC tournaments?- IPL

Led by Salman Ali Agha, the side crashed out of the T20 World Cup before reaching the semi-finals, which marked the fourth instance they failed to do so, consecutively at that.

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