Last Updated: December 06, 2023, 13:41 IST
Babar Azam’s act in the practice match has caught everyone’s
Pakistan captain Shan Masood played a straight drive down the ground off Beau Webster and the ball raced towards the boundary past Babar, who seemed to be collecting it at the non-striker’s end.
After putting up an underwhelming show at the ICC ODI World Cup, Pakistan has now shifted their focus to the longest format. The Asian giants have already reached Australia to play a three-match Test series against the World Champions. While the opening game is slated to begin on December 14, Pakistan are currently involved in a practice match against a second-string Australian side– Prime Minister’s XI, led by Nathan McSweeney. This will help the visitors get acquainted with the conditions in Australia before going into the main assignment.
On the opening day of the preparatory game in Canberra, Babar Azam did something hilarious that has garnered massive traction across social media.
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Babar joined captain Shan Masood in the middle following the dismissal of opener Abdullah Shafique. The Pakistan captain played a straight drive down the ground off Beau Webster and the ball raced towards the boundary past Babar, who seemed to be collecting it at the non-striker’s end.
The video of the incident was posted on the official X account of Cricket Australia with a sarcastic captain that read, “Babar Azam keeping himself in the game at the non-striker’s end.”
Here’s how the netizens reacted:
Babar you always put yourself in front. That’s Great! Nice Efforts— ******Love & Pain****** (@athaf_2006) December 6, 2023
Could that be considered as Obstructing the Field.— Daniel Edwards (@Daniel_0124) December 6, 2023
Babar Azam made a positive start to his batting in the practice game but could not survive longer. The right-handed batter scored 40 runs off 88 deliveries before losing his wicket to debutant Jordan Buckingham.
It’s the first series for Babar since he stepped down as Pakistan’s captain following a disappointing campaign in the World Cup 2023. The men in green went off the mark with back-to-back wins, against the Netherlands and Sri Laka, but a 7-wicket defeat shattered their momentum. They further lost 4 matches straight which dwindled their chances to make it to the semis.
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Pakistan had ended 5th on the table with 8 points and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of -0.199. In the aftermath of a below-par performance in the World Cup, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq resigned from his post, following which Babat relinquished captaincy across formats.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) then handed leadership to Shaheen Shah Afridi in the shortest format of the game while Shan Masood was named the Test captain. The post remains vacant in the ODIs as of yet.