Babar Azam To Be Demoted By Pakistan Owing To Poor Form In ICC Champions Trophy 2025

Babar Azam is likely to be demoted from his openers spot in the Pakistan team for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025. This is owing to the poor form that Babar has shown at the top, as he has not scored an ODI century since his 150-plus against Nepal in the 2023 Asia Cup.

The Pakistani National Cricket Team has not yet decided on Babar Azam's spot in the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is scheduled to begin on February 19, but their batting combination experiments appear to be continuing.

Babar failed in the Tri-Series

Recently promoted to the top of the order, Babar did not provide the expected results in the home four-match Tri-Nation ODI series between South Africa and New Zealand. Notably, the Black Caps defeated the Men in Green at home to win the trophy.

The team management is worried about the top order ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 since right-handed batsman Babar failed to duplicate the previous success with Fakhar Zaman as the opener, managing just 62 runs at an average of 20.67 and a strike rate of 81.58 in three ODIs.

Babar Azam to bat at no.3 and Saud Shakeel to open for Pakistan

According to reports, Pakistan's team management is thinking about moving Saud Shakeel to the opening position after the Tri-Nation ODI series to enable Babar Azam to get back to his best. The former captain would be able to regain his desired No. 3 spot with this tactical change.

In the forthcoming ICC Champions Trophy, which will begin on February 19 in Karachi with the defending champions playing New Zealand, this possible move might reshape Pakistan's top order and provide Babar the opportunity to lead the innings.

🚨BABAR AZAM AT ONE DOWN🚨

- The team management is thinking to promote Saud Shakeel as an opener and allow Babar Azam to bat at his favorite No.3 position in ODIs. [ARY News] pic.twitter.com/VcymwQdC0m

— Salman 🇵🇰 (@SalmanAsif2007) February 16, 2025

Lean patch bother one of Pakistan's finest

Since scoring 222 runs at an average of 55 in 6 ODIs last year, Babar has been having trouble scoring large runs. He scored 738 runs at an average of just 33 in 23 games, which was a respectable total in T20Is. However, in six Test matches last year, he was only able to score 184 runs.

Pakistan will open its ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against New Zealand on February 19 in the first match of the tournament. They will then face off against India on February 23 and will play Bangladesh last on February 27.

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