Pakistan men’s Test cricket team head coach, Jason Gillespie, has expressed full confidence in star batter Babar Azam, despite the latter’s ongoing struggles in the red-ball format. Babar, who has been going through a prolonged lean patch, has failed to score a half-century in his last 18 Test innings, leading to his exclusion from Pakistan’s squad for the final two Tests against England in the ongoing series.

The 30-year-old, once regarded as one of the finest batters in all formats, has been under pressure due to his lack of form. Babar was dropped from the lineup ahead of the second Test in Multan, following his struggles in the opening Test against England. His place in the side was taken by Kamran Ghulam, who made an immediate impact by scoring a century in the second Test.

Despite Babar’s struggles, head coach Jason Gillespie remains optimistic about the former captain’s return to form. Speaking to Sky Sports Cricket, Gillespie, the former Australian pace legend, hailed Babar as one of the finest players in the world.

"Well again, I cannot answer that because I'm not a selector. But what I will say is that Babar is a fine player. I think he's one of the best players in the world. And, yeah, he had a bit of a lean patch, but I don't think many great players around the world have never had a lean patch," said Gillespie, emphasizing that every top player goes through difficult phases.Gillespie added that he is confident Babar will bounce back stronger and resume his role as a key contributor for Pakistan in all formats. "I'm very confident. Babar will be back scoring a lot of runs for Pakistan in all formats. He's just too good a player. He works really, really hard on his game. He's very precise with his preparation and what he needs to do to get ready. I fully expect him to have a huge role going forward in the next little while for Pakistan."