​Robin Uthappa blames Babar Azam’s lack of Virat Kohli-like mental resilience for batting slump amid ‘abuse and disrespect’ originally appeared on Cricket News.
Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.KEY TAKEAWAYS:Robin Uthappa says online abuse hampers Babar Azam’s mental resilience.Babar reclaimed Pakistan’s Test captaincy after Shan Masood’s sacking.Babar’s first test comes against West Indies away from home. Robin Uthappa points to online hate behind Babar Azam’s strugglesFormer India batter Robin Uthappa has weighed in on Babar Azam’s recent struggles, arguing that the Pakistan captain lacks the same mental toughness shown by players like Virat Kohli, largely because of the relentless online criticism and disrespect he faces from former Pakistani cricketers and social media users alike.Babar has stepped back into the Test captaincy role after the selection committee removed Shan Masood from the position after a dismal run. The decision had been building for a while, with Masood’s tenure producing just four wins from sixteen matches. He had originally taken over the captaincy from Babar back in late 2023, but results nosedived soon after, beginning with a 3-0 series defeat to Australia in his very first assignment.Pakistan also suffered their first-ever home series loss to Bangladesh, going down 2-0, with Masood’s only series win coming against England at home, a 2-1 result. The final straw arrived roughly two months ago when Pakistan suffered a complete 0-2 series defeat away in Bangladesh, a result that cemented their position at the very bottom of the nine-team World Test Championship table.Pakistan now begin a new chapter under Babar’s leadership, with their opening Test against the West Indies scheduled for July 25, placing him firmly back under the spotlight.MORE: WI Select XI vs PAK highlights: Babar hits century ahead of PAK Test captaincy return (Getty) Uthappa’s take on what’s really holding Babar backSpeaking ahead of that fixture, Uthappa offered a detailed perspective on what he believes lies at the heart of Babar’s dip in form, suggesting it has less to do with technique and more to do with how he’s handled sustained criticism online.Uthappa explained that Babar’s usual response to hate has been to try and prove people wrong through performance, rather than tuning out the noise entirely and focusing purely on what works for him individually.”I think Babar’s situation, I wouldn’t even call it a downfall, as in I’d say his whole situation, is largely impacted by social media hate and social media abuse,” he said.”I genuinely believe it’s a lot of that. I think a lot of that, and his response to that was ‘I’ll do this, I’ll do this, I’ll do this and show them who I am.’ Like, I don’t think it’s been like ‘Okay, I need to shut this noise out, and I need to focus on what works for me.’ Right? I don’t think he’s done that.”According to Uthappa, that ability to block out external distra