NEWS
Follow UsPakistan’s white-ball captain Babar Azam, who was not considered for captaincy in the Champions Cup 2024, made a statement in the Stallions’ first game of the tournament on September 13 (Friday), smashing a 79-ball 76 in Faisalabad against the Nurpur Lions.
After Stallions skipper Mohammad Haris won the toss and opted to bat, Babar walked in to bat in the 8th over at 35/1. He first stitched together a 39-run stand with Shan Masood and then added 114 for the third wicket with the right-handed Tayyab Tahir. It was a free-stroking knock from Babar, who smashed nine fours in his 79-ball stay.
He perished 24 shy of a century after getting caught at deep square leg off the bowling of Lions skipper Shaheen Shah Afridi. Babar turned out to be Shaheen’s first scalp of the game and the tournament.
The 76 from Babar comes amidst reports suggesting that the right-hander is likely to be removed from Pakistan captaincy, after not being named skipper of the Stallions in the Champions Cup. It’s a welcome knock for the 29-year-old, who had a torrid Test series against Bangladesh, registering scores of 0, 22, 31 & 11.
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