PAK vs ZIM: Babar Azam Surpasses Shahid Afridi In Unwanted List After Duck Against Zimbabwe

Pakistan vs Zimbabwe, T20I Tri-Series 2025: Babar Azam continues to produce disappointing performances in the T20I cricket as he was dismissed for 0 during the Pakistan vs Zimbabwe match in the T20I Tri-Series 2025 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. However, Pakistan ended up winning the match by 5 wickets.

Having recently brought an end to a long and frustrating century drought with a match-winning century in the third ODI against Sri Lanka, Babar couldn't replicate that effort against Zimbabwe. The senior batter was dropped from the T20I team after a string of low scores, but Pakistan's poor outing in the Asia Cup forced the selectors to turn to the former captain.

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The return, however, hasn't been great. In the three T20Is against South Africa, Babar managed just one fifty-plus score, while he had a horrible outing in the tri-series opener. The duck was Babar's ninth in T20Is, and he went past Shahid Afridi, who scored eight ducks in his career. Babar is now just two ducks away from the Pakistan record of most ducks in the format, which is currently held by Umar Akmal and Saim Ayub, who have 10 ducks to their names.

Most ducks by a Pakistan Batter in T20Is

Saim Ayub - 10

Umar Akmal - 10

Babar Azam - 9

Shahid Afridi - 8

Kamran Akmal - 7

Mohammad Hafeez - 7

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The record for most ducks in the T20I format is with Dasun Shanaka of Sri Lanka, who scored 14 ducks in 103 innings. This was Babar's third duck in six innings, with the previous two coming against South Africa. He also became only the eighth Pakistani batter to get out for a duck against Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, the Men in Green have witnessed promising results in the format despite their prolific batter going through a rough patch.

"It was a close game," skipper Salman Agha said in the post-match presentation. "I think we started well in both departments – bowling and batting – and when you don’t start well, the games get tight towards the end. The spinners have been doing well for the past 4–5 months. Whoever comes on – Shadab, Nawaz, or Abrar – they always take wickets and don’t give many runs. They brought us back into the game. Last night when I saw the pitch, I knew it wouldn’t be very high-scoring. Normally, Rawalpindi is high-scoring, but recently it hasn’t been. I thought 160–180 would be par. We bowled well, and while chasing 147, I was happy, but we didn’t start well in the power play. After that, we had to play accordingly."