Pakistan’s former speedster Shoaib Akhtar has revealed the reason behind skipper Babar Azam’s lack of runs during the ongoing two-match Test series against Zimbabwe.

Babar bagged a rare golden duck during the first Test and could only score two runs in the first innings of the second Test.

Akhtar believes that the good form of Pakistan’s top-order is one of the reasons behind Babar’s inability to get going when to strides out to the middle.  

“Worrying point is again Babar Azam because he is not scoring runs. Against this [Zimbabwe] team, he has to wait for his turn because first opener and then Azhar Ali played long innings. Babar has to wear his pads and be ready during that time, which is the best and worst part of Test cricket. You have to sit and watch with concentration and you can’t talk much as well. So, basically you are in a quarantine within a quarantine. Babar should have scored atleast 300-400 runs during this series,” said Akhtar while speaking on PTV Sports.

“Sometimes it happens that you can’t score runs but I’m sure Babar is trying his best. We expect a lot from him so we should try to stay positive,” he added.  

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Pakistan's Abid Ali and Azhar Ali struck centuries as the tourists took an early grip on the second Test against Zimbabwe, reaching 268-4 at the close on the opening day at the Harare Sports Club on Friday.

The pair set a 236-run record for a second-wicket partnership in Harare as they provided Pakistan with a platform for an imposing first-innings total in a bid to replicate last week’s convincing first Test win.