Picture Credit: Twitter
At the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the crowd welcomed Babar Azam, the captain of Pakistan to the crease, chanting his name “Babar, Babar,” during their ODI World Cup 2023 clash against Afghanistan on Monday, October 23. The 29-year-old, who hasn’t been in the best of batting form, managed to put together 74 runs in his innings, his highest individual score of the flagship tournament, which helped propel his side to 282/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
Also Watch: Mohammad Nabi warns Babar Azam of run out on non-striker's end in AFG vs PAK in CWC 2023
For the unversed, Babar Azam, won the toss for Pakistan and decided that they will have a bat first. The first powerplay of the innings firmly belonged to the Men in Green, with their openers Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq taking the score to 56-0.
The first ball of the second powerplay saw Imam-ul-Haq getting dismissed for 17 runs in 22 balls, off the bowling of Azmatullah Omarzai after Naveen-ul-Haq completed the catch. It led to Babar Azam walking out to bat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, to the chants of “Babar, Babar,” from the fans in Chennai.
Watch the "Babar, Babar" chants here:
The premier batter from Pakistan got his innings rolling, but at the other end, the likes of Abdullah Shafique (58 off 75), Mohammad Rizwan (8 off 10), and Saud Shakeel (25 off 34) lost their wickets in quick succession. In spite of these dismissals, Babar Azam kept the innings together for the Men in Green, reaching his fifty in the process.
After scoring 74 off 92, an innings which had four fours and one maximum, Babar Azam got out to Noor Ahmad, with Mohammad Nabi taking the catch. But he had set up a good platform for the middle to lower order of Pakistan to accelerate in the death overs, which was done by Shadab Khan (40 off 38) and Iftikhar Ahmed (40 off 27).
