According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, Babar attempted a defensive shot for fewer than half of the 83 balls he faced. He also scored at better than a run-a-ball off his first 25. With Salman Ali Agha starting slowly, and Pakistan staring down the barrel at 79 for 4, Babar understood he would need to be the one dragging Pakistan out of the hole their top order had left them in.
Babar set that tone unambiguously after lunch, with a pair of boundaries either side of the wicket in Taijul’s first over. He had gone into the break on 37. Five balls after resumption, he brought up his half-century with the shot of his innings: a straight drive off Shoriful Islam.
“The pitch is very good and the ball is coming onto the bat very nicely,” Babar said following the day’s play. “We started well, and when Agha and I were playing, we were trying to build a partnership.”
A partnership that, before long, had grown to a half-century. Babar contributed 34 of those runs. With Babar sensing he had carried his PSL form into the longest format, he was presented with a chance for a statement red-ball innings. After a well-publicised drought in international cricket, he had now scored centuries in ODI and T20 cricket over the past six months. Now, he was also odds-on to bring up a century in this Test.
But fate, and Nahid Rana, had other plans for Babar and Pakistan, as fate and Rana often do. Reintroduced to the attack with other Bangladesh bowlers out of ideas, he pinned Babar back with a delivery that nearly touched 150 kph. With Babar on his heels now, Nahid pitched up the next delivery and bowled it 10 kph slower. This allowed enough time for an unbalanced Babar to chip the ball tamely to mid-on.
It was, as Babar acknowledged later, a “turning point” in the Test. Salman Agha soon gave his wicket away cheaply as Pakistan lost 4 for 42. They now face the prospect of a steep target in the chase.
“We were not able to build partnerships as big as what we wanted,” Babar said. “We had some soft dismissals, which is disappointing. The turning point was my wicket, and Salman Ali Agha’s wicket, because after that we were unable to build a partnership. These two dismissals changed the momentum.”
For Babar himself, it was one of those days that may have been a re-coronation, but ended in familiar disappointment. Still, his innings demonstrated his value to a deeply uninspiring side. He has now scored half-centuries in five of his last 12 Test innings, but failed to convert any into a hundred. He scored his 68 in 84 balls here, the third-highest strike rate for an innings this long in his career. However, the knock ultimately failed to put his stamp of authority on the Test.
“The main thing is that as a batting unit, we’ll have to take responsibility,” Babar said. “When one wicket falls, we lose wickets back to back, and then the situation goes out of our control. and that is something we’ll need to figure out. At one stage it looked like we were ahead, but when a partnership was broken, the same thing was repeated. As a batting unit, we’re trying to work out how to execute better, and we’re speaking to our coaching staff too. When one batter gets out, it’s imperative on the person at the other end to concentrate better.”
In truth, Babar will know expecting his teammates to step up in any consistent fashion might as well be whistling in the wind. They continue to rely on him, and in the absence of batting quality anywhere close to his from his peers, that will remain the case for the foreseeable future of Pakistan Test cricket. At least here, for another fleeting hour or so, Babar showed why even in these desperate times, Pakistan and its long-suffering supporters pin their hopes on him.
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo’s Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
