Pakistan captain Babar Azam was reminded of his surprising yet unusual dismissal during the second innings after the hosts were crushed by England in the first Test in Rawalpindi on December 5.
During Pakistan’s unsuccessful chase of 343 runs, England captain Ben Stokes stunned Babar in the 6th over with a short ball, as the Pakistan skipper failed in execution while trying to ride the bounce, as the ball took the inside edge and fell into the hands of wicketkeeper Ollie Pope.
The star batter had to return to the pavilion after scoring just five runs off four balls, and Pakistan eventually lost the match by 74 runs on Monday, as England took a 1-0 lead in the ongoing three-match Test series. The second Test will begin on December 9 in Multan.
After the match, a reporter tried to take a dig at Babar during the post-match press conference by asking for his dismissal, but the Pakistan skipper showed great composure while replying to the query.
The reporter asked: “Kal aap jiss ball pe out huye thhe, kya aapko woh samajh nehi aayi thi ya kya mamla tha? Aap jaise baare batsman aur aise ball pe out huye (The ball in which you were dismissed, did you misjudge that ball. I mean, you are such a big batsman and you got out in that kind of a delivery).”
To which, Babar replied by saying with a smile: “Mamla toh kuch hai nehi. Jab aap galat khelenge toh out toh aap honge hi. But mere khayal se jo main expect kar raha tha ki bowl thodasa ayega but woh wicket pe hold kiya jiske wajah se gap ban gayi (When you play the wrong shot, you do get out. The ball held on to the wicket before bouncing and hence led to that gap).”
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