Former Pakistani wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has asked his cousin Babar Azam’s family to help the batter relax mentally, saying that his struggles are not related to cricket.
Akmal spoke about Babar’s form during a recent TV show alongside fellow former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali.
“The way Babar is getting out, you know, I’ve been watching this for the past year,” Akmal said. “Until he gets mentally relaxed, the burden he has taken on his head… I am not talking about cricket, I am talking about off-the-field.”
Basit responded by saying Babar should get married. “So he should get married first, I gave him the advice a year ago to get married,” Basit said. “Look man, this is a straightforward thing. Other things will get settled then, right?”
Akmal then addressed Babar’s uncle and family directly. “Basit bhai, because I know, I don’t want to say it, but my request is to his uncle, his family, everyone, that if you help him relax mentally, he will be fine,” he said.
Akmal said that the family should acknowledge whatever the problem is and sit down to talk about it. “Whatever the problem is, it should be acknowledged, whatever it is, they should sit down and talk, and only then will his focus return to cricket,” he observed.
He said Babar’s personal problems weigh on him. “He is trying, but until things are right at home or wherever, his family problems, until he is mentally relaxed and stops thinking about it all the time, I don’t think he will perform,” Akmal said. “Because it’s on his mind.”
Akmal said family elders should think about the reason. “It’s not about cricket, it’s not about skill, all those things eventually translate to cricket,” he pointed out.
Babar has struggled for form in recent months. In the ODI tri-series against England and Sri Lanka, he made 118 runs in five matches at an average of 23.60 and a strike rate of 74.21, without a half-century. His scores were 45, 34, 10, 29 and a duck in the final against Sri Lanka.
He has scored one ODI century since his 151 against Nepal in September 2023. That hundred came against Sri Lanka in November 2025 and was his 20th in the format, after a wait of more than two years. He then scored a half-century against Australia in Rawalpindi in May 2026 but has not passed 50 in ODIs since.
His last Test century was 161 against New Zealand in Karachi in December 2022. In this year’s Test series against England, he made 97 runs in four innings, with scores of 76, 8, 6 and 7. He then turned to domestic cricket to find form and scored 58 runs in four first-class innings.
