Pakistan's premier batsman, Babar Azam, has fallen out of the top 10 in the ICC Test rankings for the first time in five years. This decline marks a significant shift for Azam, who had previously slipped to the 9th position from 6th due to ongoing struggles in the red-ball format.
His recent performances in a two-match home series against Bangladesh contributed to this further drop, where he failed to make a notable impact.
In the recently concluded series, Babar managed to score just 64 runs across four innings, a disappointing outcome that coincided with Pakistan's surprising 2-0 whitewash loss at home. As a result, Pakistan has also dropped to No. 8 in the latest ICC Test Rankings.
Babar Azam's difficulties in Test cricket have been apparent for some time. He has not scored a century since December 2022 and has struggled to reach even a half-century in his last 16 innings in the red-ball format.