[Watch] Babar Azam departs after scoring just 5 runs to worsen batting crisis in 1st ENG vs PAK Test 

Pakistan ace batter Babar Azam's worrisome run with the bat has extended after he was dismissed for just five runs in the second innings of the first Test against England. The right-handed batter has now gone without a red-ball fifty since December 2022, and has even relinquished his white-ball captaincy in a bid to be back among the runs.

After conceding a record 823/7 in the first innings, Pakistan had to start their second innings with a massive trail of 267 runs. England had close to four sessions to skittle out the remaining 10 wickets after playing out only 150 overs with the bat.

Babar came out to bat after Shan Masood was dismissed in the eighth over. England were smelling blood and it was up to the duo of Babar and Saim Ayub to restore some control into the innings and not create more panic. The former Pakistan skipper was patient to begin with, scoring only a solitary run off his first 12 deliveries. He then dispatched Gus Atkinson for a boundary midway through the 12th over, but was dismissed only a couple of balls later.

Babar played inside the line tentatively against a back-of-a-length delivery, leading to an outside edge that Jamie Smith pouched safely behind the stumps.

Have a look at the dismissal right here:

Babar Azam averages only 20.42 across four Tests played in 2024. In the ongoing home season, the batter has only been able to score 99 runs in six innings, which includes a duck against Bangladesh.

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Babar Azam's dismissal has sent Pakistan into a state of total panic

England had set the tempo after their prolific stint with the bat by dismissing Abdullah Shafique in the very first ball of the second innings. Instead of recovering from it, Pakistan fell further down the rabbit hole as England made breakthroughs on a regular basis.

Skipper Shan Masood was dropped a couple of times, but he could not make the most of it as he walked back after scoring 11 runs. After Babar Azam's dismissal, Saim Ayub also followed suit after a rather reckless shot to reduce the hosts to 41/4 in the 13th over.