Did Babar Azam take retirement from Test cricket?

A post about Babar Azam’s retirement from Test cricket after individual scores of 31 and 11 in both innings in the second Test match against Bangladesh in Rawalpindi, has gained immense attention on X (formerly Twitter).

A slightly detailed retirement announcement post is circulating on social media with the message ‘Khuda Hafiz Test Cricket’ and a thumbprint from Babar Azam’s parody account. Two such posts on Monday surprised cricket fans, but both posts had nothing to do with reality.

Pakistan cricket team’s batting star, Babar Azam, is under heavy criticism on social media platforms after poor performances in international cricket.

Moreover, his batting last year failed to produce any victories for Pakistan. As a result, social media users have been targeting him with often offensive memes, and now fake posts related to his retirement have gone viral.

Babar Azam stepped down as captain after ODI World Cup 2023 but was reinstated for the T20 World Cup 2024.

His recent form in Test cricket has been disappointing. He has scored just 190 runs at an average of 19 in his last 10 innings, while his average in the 50-over format has dropped to 34 a year earlier. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old cricketer has maintained an average of 38 in T20 cricket.

Under Babar’s captaincy, Pakistan exited from the T20 World Cup 2024 group stage after losing against the USA and India.