T20 World Cup: Star batter Babar Azam's stuttering start to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 has sparked unprecedented scrutiny, with cricket legends Ricky Ponting and Ravi Shastri publicly airing concerns over Pakistan's deployment of their star batter and the suffocating pressure surrounding him.

Babar's lethargic showing in Pakistan's tense win over the Netherlands – 15 runs from 18 balls in a routine chase – drew sharp criticism from cricket pundits.

“If you're 15 off 18 balls, you're not just putting pressure on yourself, you're putting pressure on the guy at the other end,” Ponting said on The ICC Review.

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“Babar needs to hit boundaries early on. He needs to get off and going… otherwise the whole momentum of the game is going to change every time he goes in," he added.

“It just to me looks like he's lost a bit of his power, his ball striking ability. Pakistan need the best version of Babar Azam if they're going to go further in this tournament," he said.

Shastri lent weight to Ponting's views, contextualising Babar's struggles within the weight of expectation.

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“When you are at that stage of your career, there's baggage. There's a weight of expectation. People expect you to go out there and deliver. In your first five balls… make an effort to hit a couple of boundaries. You will feel a lot better and things might change," Shastri said.

Azam's predicament now demands a response, with Pakistan's clash against USA in Colombo looming large on February 10.