Babar Azam left frustrated by controversial dismissal in Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as replays suggest ball hit thigh pad
Babar Azam was given out caught behind for 28 for Lahore Whites against FATA at the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad, despite replays appearing to show the ball striking his thigh pad rather than his bat.
Babar Azam's return to Pakistan's domestic first-class competition became a talking point for an unwanted reason on Wednesday, after a disputed umpiring decision cut short his innings for Lahore Whites in their Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match against FATA Region at the Diamond Cricket Ground in Islamabad.
Babar, playing for Lahore Region Whites in the Gold division of the 2026-27 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, was batting on 28 from around 40 deliveries when the incident happened on the second day of the four-day match. His innings had included six boundaries, and he had looked set for a longer stay at the crease before the controversy intervened.
The dismissal came off the final delivery of the 28th over of Lahore Whites' first innings. FATA pacer Afaq Afridi bowled to Babar, who appeared to let the delivery pass his bat. Wicketkeeper Rehan Afridi collected the ball behind the stumps, Afaq appealed immediately for a caught-behind dismissal, and the on-field umpire raised his finger to send Babar back to the pavilion.
Babar, however, was visibly unhappy with the decision. As he left the field, he gestured towards his thigh pad, seemingly indicating that the ball had made contact with his pad rather than his bat before being caught by the wicketkeeper. Television replays and footage shared online appeared to support that reading, showing the ball striking the pad, although the available video alone does not establish conclusively what the umpire saw in real time.
The crucial point for Babar was that there was no way back. The Decision Review System, which allows batters in international cricket to challenge an on-field decision, is not available in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, so he had no opportunity to ask for the call to be reviewed. Once the umpire's finger went up, the innings was over, and Babar walked off after scoring 28 runs from 40 deliveries.
The incident quickly drew reaction from fans on social media, where several questioned the accuracy of the decision and shared clips of the dismissal. Others turned the debate towards a wider issue, urging the Pakistan Cricket Board to introduce the Decision Review System in domestic competitions so that players can challenge contentious calls and umpiring errors can be corrected.
That debate is not new in Pakistan's domestic game. First-class matches are played without the ball-tracking, edge-detection and review infrastructure that international cricket now takes for granted, largely because of cost and logistics, which means on-field umpires carry the full burden of close calls. For a batter of Babar's profile, whose every innings is watched closely, a single disputed decision therefore carries far more weight than it would in an ordinary domestic fixture.
The Quaid-e-Azam Trophy itself adds to the significance. It is Pakistan's premier first-class competition, and the 2026-27 season began only on November 3, with 20 regional teams competing across the Gold and Silver divisions through December. Babar's appearance for Lahore Whites against FATA was one of the early headline fixtures of the tournament, which is why the dismissal, rather than the match situation alone, dominated discussion on Wednesday.
For Lahore Whites, the immediate consequence was the loss of their most experienced batter for a modest score, at a stage of the innings when a long contribution could have shaped the match. For Babar personally, the dismissal continued a run of innings in which the margins have gone against him, and it will only sharpen the attention on his next innings in the competition.
What happens next is, for now, a matter for the match and for the wider conversation it has started. The four-day game in Islamabad will continue regardless of the controversy, and Babar will have another chance to bat if Lahore Whites bat again. Whether the Pakistan Cricket Board responds to the renewed calls for review technology in domestic cricket remains to be seen, but Wednesday's incident has given those calls a fresh and very public example to point to.
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