Former Pakistani Cricketer Basit Ali was impressed with Babar Azam‘s batting in Pakistan’s first One-day International against Australia in Melbourne on Monday, November 4. Babar Azam scored 37 runs off 44 balls in the match. Babar Azam would be keen to dictate the terms on 8th November in 2nd ODI against Aussies after the Men in Green gave Australia a tough time.
Babar Azam looked in good form- Basit Ali
Basit feels that Babar looked hungry to score runs. He also opined that the Star Pakistani batter was looking at his best. In a video uploaded on his YouTube channel, he explained,
“Babar Azam looked in good form today. His way of playing was top-class. Unfortunately, he played Adam Zampa off the back foot on a ball that he should have played on the front foot. His feet movement and how hungry he was for runs were good signs. It was something that he had been lacking across formats. After many years, I felt Babar Azam did top-class batting.”
Babar was left out of the last two tests against England at home. He also stepped down from the captaincy role in white-ball formats. The right-handed batter looked set for a big score in the series opener against the Aussies. His knock came to an abrupt end, courtesy of Adam Zampa. Babar misjudged the length of the ball and went back for a full ball and was bowled.
Put into bat first, the visitors were bundled out for just 203 runs on board. Skipper Mohammad Rizwan scored 44 runs while contributions from the lower order helped Pakistan reach a respectable total.
Left-arm Quick Mitchell Starc picked 3 wickets, while Aussie skipper Pat Cummins and Adam Zampa claimed two wickets each. Chasing a modest target, Australia looked in a great position to seal the match with Steve Smith and Josh Inglis scoring 44 and 49 runs respectively. However, Haris Rauf and the Pakistani bowlers had other plans as they picked back-to-back wickets and brought the Men in Green right back into the game. But the hosts’ Skipper Pat Cummins held his nerve scoring a unbeaten 32 and taking his side to victory.
Our people won’t be happy with 37 runs- Basit Ali
Basit Ali mentioned that the Pakistani fans won’t be satisfied with Babar’s 37-run knock. He said the fans always expect big scores from their Star batter. He also mentioned how India’s Virat Kohli had to deal to with the pressure of expectations. Basit remarked in the same video,
“Our people won’t be happy with 37 runs, they want Babar to score 137. Similarly, the Indian fans aren’t satisfied with Virat Kohli’s 70-run knock, they want 170 from him. So, this is the case with a big player that there’s no value if he scores a 50. However, these 37 runs will be very good for Babar ahead of the remaining matches.”
The second ODI will be played in Adelaide on Friday, November 8.
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