3 times a left-arm seamer dismissed Babar Azam with a beauty
Inarguably, Babar Azam is one of the most elegant and talented batters going around in world cricket at the moment. The Pakistan skipper, who currently has more than 11 thousand international runs to his name, is already considered a modern-day legend by many.
Babar is also currently captaining his franchise Peshawar Zalmi in the ongoing Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2023.
However, on Sunday (February 26), the 28-year old didn't have an ideal outing as he was rattled by Shaheen Shah Afridi with a gem of a delivery.
During an encounter between Peshawar Zalmi and Lahore Qalandars (Match 15 of PSL 2023), Babar was batting on seven when a ferocious delivery by Afridi bamboozled the right-hander.
You can watch the dismissal below:
🗣️ "If Babar can't play it, no batsman in the world can play it" – Waqar Younis
Shaheen Shah Afridi, a special bowler. ⭐
#HBLPSL8 | #PSL2023 | #LQvPZ
https://t.co/hiQJ4WqHv8
After being hit for a boundary, Shaheen stunned Babar with a brilliant in-swinging delivery, which the Pakistan captain failed to read during the third over of the innings. Interestingly, this wasn't the first time Babar was undone by a special delivery bowled by a left-arm pacer.
In this listicle, we will take a look at three instances where a left-arm pacer dismissed Babar Azam with a beauty.
#3 Mitchell Starc during the 3rd T20I in Perth in 2019
After a 1-0 lead, Australia eyed a series-win when they hosted Pakistan for the third and final T20I in Perth in November 2019.
Pakistan were put to bat first and needed a steady start to have any chance in the game. Mitchell Starc, however, had other plans as he bowled a searing opening spell that saw him take two wickets in as many balls.
During his second over with the new ball, Starc ran in hard and bowled a full-length ball on the middle stump to Babar Azam and the batter was beaten for pace. He went for a flick but missed it completely as the umpire raised his finger to send Babar packing.
On the very next delivery, Starc then bamboozled Mohammed Rizwan with a ripper as Pakistan could only make 106/8 in their 20 overs before the hosts chased it down with ten wickets in hand.
#2 Arshdeep Singh at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 in Melbourne
The most recent dismissal on the list was inflicted by India's Arshdeep Singh when the left-armer trapped Babar in front during the blockbuster clash between the arch-rivals at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.
Babar endured a horrific start to his T20 World Cup 2022 campaign when he was given LBW on the very first delivery he faced.
Arshdeep Singh the game changer - dismissed Babar Azam on a golden duck. https://t.co/NAAMA69kGn
A middle-stumped line ball with some late in-swing by Arshdeep left Babar Azam clueless and the Men in Green skipper went out on a golden duck at the MCG. Babar asked for a DRS, however, the decision remained the same as there was no bat involved and the ball tracking returned with three reds.
With the special scalp, Arshdeep joined Vijay Shankar and Pragyan Ojha in the elite club of Indian bowlers to take a wicket on the first ball of their World Cup careers.
#1 Shaheen Afridi during PSL 2021
Much before his latest dismissal of Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi outfoxed his countryman in the 2021 edition of PSL as well.
During Match 11 of PSL 2021, Lahore pacer Shaheen Afridi castled Babar Azam's furniture with a peach of a delivery. The third over of the first innings saw Afridi send a 149 kmph bullet to Babar, who completely missed the length. The ball feathered past his pads and went shattering into the stumps.
Afridi took a three-wicket haul during that innings and helped his side win the encounter by six wickets.