"Thank you, Gautam Gambhir"- Fans react after Babar Azam's failure in PAK vs AUS 2023 World Cup clash
Pakistan captain Babar Azam suffered another failure in the ongoing 2023 World Cup, which drew criticism from fans. He could only score 18 (14) in the match against Australia on Friday (October 20) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Australia batted first in the contest and notched up a daunting total of 367/9 in 50 overs. David Warner (163) and Mitchell Marsh (121) hit magnificent centuries and spearheaded their side's batting line-up. Shaheen Afridi picked up a 5-wicket haul for Pakistan.
In response, Pakistan reached 134/0 in 21 overs and looked in a good position, as openers Abdullah Shafique (64) and Imam-ul-Haq (70) hit fine half-centuries.
Marcus Stoinis dismissed the duo in quick succession to derail the chase. The onus was then on Pakistan skipper Babar Azam to shoulder the responsibility in the pressure situation against a high-quality opposition.
Babar could not rise to the occasion and departed in the 27th over, leaving his side at 175/3. Mohammad Rizwan (46), Saud Shakeel (30), and Iftikhar Ahmed (26) then tried to keep Pakistan in the hunt, but the target proved to be too much in the end. Pakistan eventually bundled out for 305 in 45.3 overs and lost the match by 62 runs.
Fans took note of Babar Azam's latest batting failure in a pressure chase and went on to troll him on X.
Here are some of the reactions:
"We weren't up to the mark"- Babar Azam after Pakistan's loss against Australia in 2023 World Cup
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Babar Azam admitted that Pakistan's side did not perform to their potential against Australia.
He pointed out that mistakes like dropping the catch of Australian opener David Warner proved too costly for them.
Reflecting on the loss, Babar said:
"To be honest, we weren't up to the mark and if you drop catch of a batter like Warner, they'll make you pay and the margin of error on this ground is very less on a ground like this. All credit to fast bowlers and spinners, we came back well in the last 10 overs and we hit the right lengths and targeted the stumps."
He continued:
"Message was simple, we could do it and needed partnerships at the top of the order, we started well and we got only small partnerships, that hurt us in the end. We will try to correct the mistakes from this game, we need to focus on building big parnerships."
Pakistan will next face Afghanistan on Monday (October 23) in Chennai.