Aakash Chopra praised batting ability of the Pakistan skipper, Babar Azam for his mammoth 150 runs against Nepal in the opening fixture of the Asia Cup 2023. (Image: Twitter and AFP)
Babar Azam was praised by the cricket expert, Aakash Chopra for his brilliant knock of 151 after Nepal managed to get both openers in the first seven overs.
Pakistan’s star batter and captain, Babar Azam displayed his class against debutants in the Asia Cup 2023, Nepal. He blew away the opposition with a thrilling knock of 151 runs off 131 deliveries which helped Pakistan start the tournament off with a massive victory.
Popular cricket pundit and former Indian opening batter, Aakash Chopra praised Babar Azam’s knock and hailed him as the best player in the ODI format, in his show ‘Aakashvani’ which is streaming on JioCinema.
Chopra said, “Nepal seemed confident after getting the two early wickets and everything was going according to plan. But then comes Babar Azam. Nineteen centuries in 102 innings, he’s truly an unbelievable player and is in a league of his own.”
“Now, of course, there will be people saying that ‘it’s just against minnows and it’s a flat pitch’. The tournament has just begun, and Babar Azam has set it on fire. Now, everyone will be playing against minnows and on great pitches and people will then notice that while the players are very good, they couldn’t score 150+ in the same conditions,” he added.
After losing early wickets skipper held the innings from one end to build the match-saving partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed. Both the duo added 214 runs for the fifth wicket and took their team past 300 runs. Ahmed ended up scoring 109 runs in 79 deliveries with 11 fours and 4 sixes.
Chopra also addressed Iftikhar Ahmed’s performance in the match and cited it as an exceptional knock. Chopra said, “As we saw yesterday, there is an issue with Pakistan’s middle order, and they are addressing it, but Iftikhar Ahmed has papered over the cracks for the time being. Whenever he does play – it’s exceptional.”
“They made a lot of runs and then with the new ball came Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf – they were all over Nepal. This is understandable as they are an inexperienced side but they must be thinking that they could have done better,” he added.
Pakistan’s next game will be the highly anticipated game against India. Babar Azam’s men will be looking forward to the epic clash which is set to take place in Pallekele International Stadium, Sri Lanka. The venue was controversially shifted to Sri Lanka due to the BCCI’s refusal to play their games in Pakistan who were the original hosts of the Asia Cup 2023.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – IANS)