Babar Azam signs for OGDCL as guest player in President's Trophy to sharpen first-class form

Babar Azam will play for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) in the ongoing President's Trophy Grade 1 first-class tournament after the department signed him as a guest player. Babar had requested the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to place him in a squad so he could stay in touch with the longer format, following which the board made the arrangement with OGDCL.

The President's Trophy commenced on September 12, and OGDCL are currently engaged in their first-round match against PTV (Pakistan Television). At the close of day three, OGDCL trailed by 132 runs with three wickets down while following on. The team also had to take the field without their regular captain Imam-ul-Haq, who was withdrawn from the squad after he reportedly failed to appear in a fitness test.

Babar's return to domestic first-class cricket is his first since 2019, when he led the now-defunct Central Punjab side to victory against Northern in the final of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. That was only his second domestic first-class match that season. It was also the only season after 2015 in which Babar played more than one domestic first-class match.

Why has Babar Azam returned to domestic first-class cricket?

Babar has not scored a century in Test cricket since December 2022, when he made 161 against New Zealand in Karachi. Since the start of 2023, his Test average stands at 30.43, which is 12.55 runs below his career average in the format. Across 39 innings in this period, he has managed only eight half-centuries, including a stretch of 18 innings without passing 41. His top score in that run has been 88, recorded in the second Test against the West Indies last month, a match Pakistan won to claim their first away Test victory since July 2023 and end a sequence of eight consecutive away Test defeats.

The decline in Babar's Test form has been a prominent subject of debate in Pakistan cricket. The recent three-Test tour of England, where Pakistan were swept 3-0, intensified scrutiny after England's fast bowlers targeted his weakness against the short ball at Lord's and Edgbaston. Babar missed the first Test at Headingley because of an injury.

Despite these struggles, Babar had not featured in any of the eight squads when the PCB announced the teams for this season's President's Trophy and President's Cup. His decision to participate now follows a broader trend of international players opting into the tournament, with Shaheen Shah Afridi and Salman Agha among the most prominent names to have done so.

PCB central contracts also carry a domestic participation requirement. Players in category A (Test specialists) must feature in at least six first-class matches per year, while those in category AB (Test and ODI specialists) must play at least four. White-ball specialists in the BC category are required to appear in at least two first-class matches. Pakistan are currently ranked ninth in the ICC Test rankings and sit at the bottom of the nine-team World Test Championship table, a position they also occupied in the previous cycle. They have failed to reach the knockouts of the last four ICC tournaments and were eliminated from the home Champions Trophy in 2025 within five days after losing their first two group matches, to New Zealand and India.

What is the situation with OGDCL and Aamer Jamal's move to MITS?

OGDCL were relegated last season after finishing at the bottom of the eight-team President's Trophy table. They returned to the Grade 1 tournament this season after the PCB removed WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority) and Sahir Associates for failing to comply with regulations. Kingsmen Academy also benefited from that decision, having missed out on qualification after losing to Markhor IT Solutions (MITS) in the final of the President's Trophy Grade-II Gold tournament.

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 match against Khan Research Laboratories in Rawalpindi. Jamal played for President's Trophy finalists SNGPL (Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited) last season and turned out for Lahore Whites in the 2025-26 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. He will be the first Test cricketer in the MITS squad. Jamal was among seven players sent home from England by the PCB after Pakistan lost the series following the second Test at Lord's, though he had not featured in either of the first two Tests.

In their ongoing first-round match, MITS had to follow on against Hyderabad Kingsmen Academy after posting 330 in reply to a total of 565 for 7 declared, which was built on the back of Salman Agha's unbeaten 300. At the close of the day, MITS were 203 for 5 in their second innings, trailing by 32 runs.