The Pakistan Cricket team is touring the Netherlands for a three-match ODI series. The Babar Azam-led side has already sealed the series after crushing the home team in the first two encounters. Before heading into the final match of their tour, certain members of the Pakistan side visited the iconic football club Ajax in Amsterdam.
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Skipper Babar, Shadab Khan, and Imam-ul-Haq were among those who got a tour of the historic football club. During their tour, they also met the legendary Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who is currently serving as the CEO of Ajax.
The Pakistan Cricket Board shared the video of the complete tour on their official Instagram handle. “Our star players visited the AFC Ajax headquarters today,” PCB wrote in the caption.
In the 5 minute-long video, van der Sar was seen interacting with the Pakistani players. Babar, who was termed as the “mixture of both Messi and Ronaldo” by his compatriots, gave the former Manchester United keeper a batting tutorial. On discovering that Pakistan’s first-choice wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan was not part of the players visiting the club, van der Sar even joked that he could take up the keeping responsibilities for the team.
Along with the CEO, the players also met Ajax’s veteran striker Dusan Tadic. The sportsmen exchanged jerseys, a tradition that is quite common in the football fraternity and symbolizes respect and admiration for their fellow athletes.
Talking about the series, Pakistan was tested by the Dutch side in the first match of the series. The team from the subcontinent posted 314 runs on the board, riding on amazing performances from centurion Fakhar Zaman and their ever-consistent skipper. However, the hosts came quite close, courtesy of some fearless batting from Vikramjit Singh and Tom Cooper. A combined death bowling master class from the pacers bailed the visitors from a howler and secured a 14-run victory in the first match.
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The second ODI was more of a straightforward affair where the Asian giants crushed the Netherlands after chasing down a mediocre target of 187 runs. The skipper led the chase yet again as he was aided by useful contributions from Mohammad Rizwan and Agha Salman.
The Dutch side has one final chance to prove their mettle against one of the top sides in international cricket. The Scott Edwards-led side will be looking to avenge themselves in the final encounter on Sunday, August 21.
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