Babar returns to domestic first-class cricket after seven years in bid to rediscover form

15 Sept-Babar Azam will play for Oil & Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in the ongoing President's Trophy Grade 1 first-class tournament after he was signed by the department as a guest player. Cricinfo has learned that the Pakistan Test captain had requested the PCB to place him in a squad so he could stay in touch with the longer format, after which the board made the arrangement with OGDCL.

Babar has not scored a century in Test cricket since December 2022, when he scored 161 in a draw against New Zealand in Karachi. His Test average since the start of 2023 is 30.43, 12.55 runs lower than his career average in the format. He has scored only eight half-centuries in 39 innings in this period - which included an 18-innings stretch without getting past 41 - and four of them have been in his last five Tests. His top score since his last Test century has been 88, which he recorded in a winning cause in the second and last Test of the West Indies tour last month. That win marked Pakistan's first away Test win since July 2023 and ended a streak of eight consecutive away Test defeats.

The decline in Babar's form has been one of the hottest topics of discussion in Pakistan cricket with former cricketers often dissecting his technique in public fora. The recent three-Test tour of England, where Pakistan were swept 3-0, added fuel to the debate after the England quicks exploiting his weakness against the short ball at Lord's and Edgbaston. He had missed the first Test at Headingley because of an injury.

Babar, despite his struggles, has mostly stayed away from domestic first-class cricket and was not in any of the eight teams when the PCB announced the squads for this season's President's Trophy and President's Cup last week.

The last time he played a domestic first-class tournament was in 2019, when he led the now-defunct Central Punjab team to victory against Northern in the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. That was only Babar's second domestic first-class match that season as Pakistan toured Australia and hosted Sri Lanka, which was the first Test series to be played in Pakistan after the events of 2009. That was also the only season after 2015 when Babar played more than one domestic first-class match in a season.

His decision to play domestic first-class cricket comes after a host of international cricketers opted to play in the President's Trophy this season. The most prominent among them are Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Agha.

There have been calls for Pakistan regulars to feature more often in domestic first-class tournaments because of Pakistan's abysmal run in Test cricket and ICC tournaments in recent years. There is also an element of compulsion as the PCB central contracts mandate players in categories A (Test specialists) and AB (Test and ODI specialists) to feature in at least six and four first-class matches respectively in a year. Players in the BC category, which is for white-ball specialists (ODI and T20I), are required to play at least two first-class matches.

Pakistan are ranked ninth in the ICC Test rankings at the moment and are at the bottom of the nine-team World Test Championship table, which is exactly where they were in the last cycle. They have also failed to reach the knockouts of the last four ICC tournaments and were knocked out of the home Champions Trophy in 2025 within five days of its start after losing the first two of their three group matches, to New Zealand and India.

OGDCL were relegated last season as they finished at the bottom of the eight-team President's Trophy table. They, however, are back in the tournament after the PCB axed WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) and Sahir Associates for their failure to comply with the regulations for this season. The other beneficiary of the PCB's decision were Kingsmen Academy, who had missed out on qualification for the first-class tournament after losing to Markhor IT Solutions (MITS) in the final of the President's Trophy Grade-II Gold tournament.

Babar's addition to the squad is bound to provide a boost to OGDCL, who struggled against PTV (Pakistan Television) in the first round of the President's Trophy, which commenced on September 12. They trailed by 132 runs with three wickets down while following on at the close of day three in the ongoing game. They had to take the field without their regular captain Imam-ul-Haq after he was withdrawn from the squad - Cricinfo understands this is because of his failure to appear in a fitness test.

Aamer Jamal joins MITS

Fast-bowling allrounder Aamer Jamal has joined first-class debutants MITS as a guest player and is expected to be available for their second-round game against Khan Research Laboratories in Rawalpindi. He played for the President's Trophy finalists SNGPL (Sui Norhtern Gas Pipelines Limited) last season and turned out for Lahore Whites in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy.

Jamal was one of the seven players who were sent back home from England by the PCB after Pakistan lost the series with the second Test at Lord's. But Jamal had not featured in either of the first two Tests.

MITS had to follow on against Hyderabad Kingsmen Academy after posting 330 in reply to the mammoth 565 for 7 declared, which they had plundered riding on Agha's unbeaten 300. They trailed by 32 runs after closing the day on 203 for 5 in their second innings.

Jamal will be the first Test cricketer in their team roster.Cricinfo