Picture Credit: X
T he Pakistan white-ball captain, Babar Azam, suffered a nasty blow on his box while batting in the nets against pacer Khurram Shahzad. After groaning in pain, the 29-year-old took a few moments to himself and managed to recover with some stretches before resuming practice in the nets for the upcoming two-match Test series against Bangladesh at home.
Notably, the first of two Test matches in the series, which is a part of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25, will commence on August 21 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. The second Test will be played at the National Stadium in Karachi from August 30 onwards.
Apart from getting hit on the groin, Babar Azam also had his off stump knocked over by Khurram Shahzad with a beautiful outswinger pitching on middle stump. With such high intensity of the practice sessions, Pakistan will be well-prepared to take on the challenge of Bangladesh in the upcoming two Test matches in their home conditions.
Here is the clip of Babar Azam getting hit on the box in nets:
Moreover, as far as the WTC standings are concerned, Pakistan are in fifth place after winning two and losing three of their five Test matches. On the other side, Bangladesh are in eighth place with one victory and three defeats in their four Test matches.
Both these two teams aren’t completely out of the picture in regard to the WTC Final next year, but they need to start winning all their remaining matches to have a best chance at it.
