Babar Azam, who was dropped from Pakistan’s T20I squad last year for his slow strike rate, is currently featuring in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 and right-hander has once again come under intense scrutiny for his turtle-paced approach.

During Pakistan’s campaign opener against the Netherlands in Colombo on Saturday (February 7), Babar managed to score only 15 off 18 balls while batting at No. 4.

The Men in Green may have escaped a humiliation thanks to Faheem Ashraf’s heroics, but Babar’s sluggish knock drew him a lot of flak and his spot in the team has become a topic of debate as well.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has now offered a blunt verdict on Babar Azam’s batting struggles, saying the Pakistan batter is currently weighed down by the “weight of expectation” that comes with seniority and reputation.

Shastri advised Babar to break the “mental shackles” by taking the aggressive route early in his innings.

“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,” Shastri said on the latest episode of The ICC Review.

“Get out there and in your first five balls, I don’t care if you get out, but I want you to make an effort to hit a couple of boundaries. Choose your spot, get into good positions, anticipate what the bowler is doing. You will feel a lot better and things might change,” he added.

While questions have been raised over Babar’s place in Pakistan’s T20I XI, Shastri backed the senior batter to silence his critics in the next group-stage match against the USA in Colombo on February 10.

“He’s a quality player. We know he’s got the experience to adjust very quickly,” Shastri remarked. “But he has to do it quickly because the middle overs are a very crucial period of play. In T20 cricket, you can’t give it that much time unless the conditions are really in favour of the bowlers.”