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Pakistan's premier batter Babar Azam's performance will be on the radar, especially how he fares against the quality Indian spinners in the Champions Trophy blockbuster clash between the two sides in Dubai on Sunday.
Before the end of 2021, Babar was a class apart from his compatriots and competitors, especially against spinners. In ODIs, Babar averaged 89.94 against spin while maintaining a healthy strike rate of 89. A couple of years later, the Babar of 2025 is fighting a battle against his spin demons, especially the one that turns sharply into him. Since 2022, his love for off-spinners has petered out even more. Since the beginning of 2022, Babar has averaged just 31.80 against the balls that have spun in. His decline against the off-spinners turns out to be more concerning when one looks at his strike rate. From 89, Babar saw his strike rate stoop down to 67.65 against the off-spinners. Years changed on calendar sheets, and Babar continued to carry his spin demons. In the Champions Trophy opener against New Zealand, Babar came across part-time off-spinners Michael Bracewell and Glenn Phillips. Both Phillips and Bracewell are best known for their superiority in batting instead of their spinning capabilities. The duo proved to be adept at keeping Babar silent. They made the 31-year-old think twice before committing to a shot. They did enough damage to allow skipper Mitchell Santner to make Babar commit to a shot, which landed straight in the hands of Kane Williamson. India would certainly keep Babar's horror run against spin in mind when they line up in Dubai. While Babar has found it hard to tackle spin, his stats have significantly improved against the speedsters. Before 2022, he averaged 47.35 against pace but has managed to elevate it to 57.52 while maintaining a strike rate of around 90. (ANI)
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