{
  "id": 19840120,
  "title": "'If conditions are flat, watch out': Mike Hesson finds a bizarre way to defend Babar Azam's struggles in Pakistan team",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/13/if-conditions-are-flat-watch-out-mike-hesson-finds-a-bizarre-way-to",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-11-13T17:28:27.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Yahoo Sports",
    "slug": "yahoo-sports",
    "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/conditions-flat-watch-mike-hesson-172827388.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Mike Hesson is defending Babar Azam after the first Test against Sri Lanka at Rawalpindi ended in a draw. Hesson believes Babar's scores are not as bad as critics suggest and attributes the poor performances to the pitch conditions. He points out that Babar has averaged over 50 in Test cricket this year, which is the highest among players with 10 innings. Hesson warns that if the conditions are flat, Babar's batting could improve significantly. Babar has not scored a Test century in the last 42 innings, which is the primary concern among critics.",
  "summary": "While his struggles on the field continue, Pakistan Test skipper Babar Azam is defended bizarrely by head coach Mike Hesson, who praises the batter's ability to perform on flat pitches.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}