Although the first T20I between Pakistan and Australia’s hosts ended without a result on Sunday, Green Army fans did not stop praising their newly appointed skipper Babar Azam for showing grit in the Sydney Cricket Ground series opening. After a poor display at home against Sri Lanka, Azam and Co. squared off against a side led by Aaron Finch in the first game of the three-match series in Sydney, beginning their away tour in Down under.
The onus falls on skipper Babar, who succeeded Sarfaraz Ahmed as the leader of the Green Army, after Pakistan faced a series whitewash at the hands of Sri Lanka. Despite losing two of their top batsmen cheaply, Pakistan got into a comfortable position before rain played spoilsport.
In his captaincy debut, the newly crowned skipper, who slammed a gritty fifty-plus knock, was heavily praised on social media by the Green Army fans.
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Azam smashed 59 off 38 balls, helped him unlock a series of achievements. In his T20I captaincy debut, Azam now has a skipper’s highest score for Pakistan. Azam, with his half-century against Australia, has surpassed Shahid Afridi.
For Babar, this was also his 11th fifty-plus score, which is the most in the shortest format by any Pakistan batsman. The stylish batsman is also the only Pakistan batsman in a calendar year to go beyond the score tally of 1500.
Currently, ranked the No. 1 batsman in the T20I mix, Babar led the top-ranked side of the world in a rain-affected encounter to a steady 107 for five (5 overs). The visitors were off the terrible start as the pace merchant Mitchell Starc handed over a golden duck to Fakhar Zaman.
Haris Sohail followed Zaman into the dressing room without making much of an impression.
The torrid start demanded that the skipper step on the scene, which he did by delivering the goods with an unbeaten 59 to avoid the visitors from faltering. While Azam’s fifty came in 38 balls, in the first T20I against Australia, the rest of Pakistan’s batsmen combined to score 48 off 52 balls.
