Pakistan cricket’s biggest name is suddenly being discussed like a puzzle that needs solving mid-tournament, and Ricky Ponting isn’t sugar-coating why.
After Pakistan’s opening T20 World Cup 2026 game against the Netherlands, Ponting suggested the team may need to rethink how it uses Babar Azam, warning that a slow start from a top-order anchor can end up squeezing everyone else.
Speaking with Ravi Shastri and Sanjana Ganesan on the ICC Review, Ponting said the most alarming part wasn’t the dot balls – it was what he felt was missing in the shots themselves.
“It just to me looks like he’s lost a bit of his power, his ball striking ability, like taking on that spinner on the way he did and not being able to even go close to clearing it,” Ponting said.
Ponting’s statement makes it clear that it is not a debate about intent or mindset alone. It is about output – whether Babar is currently striking the ball with the same authority that makes bowlers push back, change lengths, and alter fields early.
Ponting then moved quickly to the knock-on effect that matters most in T20s; pressure doesn’t stay with the batter who is stuck; it transfers.
“If you are 15 off 18 balls, you are not just putting pressure on yourself, you are putting pressure on the guy at the other end,” Ponting continued. “The guy at the other end knows that he’s got to be the one to take up the boundary scoring. Babar needs to hit boundaries early on. He needs to get off and going, he needs two boundaries in his first six balls, otherwise the whole momentum of the game is going to change every time he goes in.”
It is a captain’s critique disguised as a batting critique. A top-order player who can’t access boundaries early doesn’t just slow an innings – he changes roles on the fly. The partner is forced into risk, bowlers get to dictate match-ups, and the innings becomes reactive.
Ponting also revealed his own shift in stance, admitting he began the tournament backing the proven star – and then reassessed after what he saw in the opener against the Netherlands.
Ricky Ponting mentioned how his view about Babar had changed after the opening game against the Dutch. “I defended him at the start of the tournament… a big name player in a big event…. experience, you need (those players) on your side if you are going to win. But Pakistan need the best version of Babar Azam if they are going to go further in this tournament.”
Ponting is not calling Babar finished – he is saying Pakistan cannot carry a version of him that is searching for timing and power while the tournament clock keeps ticking.
The most actionable part of Ponting’s take, though, was tactical: change Babar’s entry point. If power is down, Ponting argued, then give him the conditions that make boundary-hitting simpler – namely, the powerplay.
“I would even think about batting him at No.3,” said Ponting. “I think the earlier he goes in to bat, if he can get some time inside the powerplay with the field up, I think that’s going to help him because if he has just lost that little bit of power, then you need everything in your favour. So, having only two fielders out would help him. The guys that (are) batting after him have got plenty of power anyway. They can take advantage of those middle overs with the spinners on and the fielders out.”
In other words: if Pakistan still want Babar Azam as a cornerstone, the side may have to adjust the structure around him – not wait for him to adjust to the tournament.
