RAWALPINDI: The star batsman of Pakistan, Babar Azam, has not only surpassed but also broken the former captain Shahid Afridi’s record for being dismissed for zero, an unexplained record of sorts.
Babar Azam’s first match against Zimbabwe in the tri-nation T20 series saw him getting out for ‘naught’ after trying for three deliveries and not scoring any runs.
To elaborate, Babar Azam was given out LBW on the umpire’s call off Brad Evans’ ball, and thus he inherited the record of former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi under which he was also dismissed for zero 8 times.
Babar Azam played a splendid half-century that practically won the last T20 match against South Africa, but unfortunately, he had a heavy fall and had to return to the dressing room without scoring against Zimbabwe.
Babar Azam is the unlucky player who has been out for a duck in nine different T20 internationals, while Shahid Afridi has been out for a duck eight times.
Earlier, Umar Akmal was the record-holder for the most ducks with 10 times he was dismissed without scoring, a record which has now been equaled by Saim Ayub, who has also been dismissed for a duck 10 times.
Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez have also been given the walk of shame due to a duck 7 times.
It is worth noting that Babar Azam not long ago, held the record for most T20 runs in the T20 series against South Africa, where he went past the former India captain Rohit Sharma.
Pakistan wins first match of Tri-Nation series by five wickets
Pakistan won the first match of the Tri-Nation Series by five wickets from Zimbabwe, played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.
In the match played in Rawalpindi, the national team achieved the target of 148 runs in the last over. Fakhar Zaman played an aggressive game and scored 45 runs off 32 balls, which included two fours and two sixes.
In the series’ first match, Zimbabwe had set Pakistan a target of 148 runs, which Pakistan chased easily.
According to the details, opener Brian Bennett gave the team a brilliant start and grabbed everyone’s attention by playing an innings of 72 runs, but after his dismissal, the rest of the batsmen could not last long.
The intermittent fall of wickets increased the pressure on the Zimbabwean batsmen, hence the team was limited to 147 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs.
Bennett scored 49 runs, Marunami 30, and captain Sikandar Raza was at the wicket with 34 runs.
Muhammad Nawaz took two wickets for Pakistan, while Shaheen Shah Afridi, Salman Mirza, Saim Ayub and Abrar Ahmed took one wicket each.
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