AUS vs PAK 2023: Pat Cummins cleans up Babar Azam to put Australia in driving seat
Pakistan skipper and right-handed batter Babar Azam has had a forgettable year. Pakistan didn’t win a single test series at home and failed to qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and also the finals of the 2023 Asia Cup under his leadership.
The right-hander has also disappointed with the bat so far this year which has been visible in the ongoing tour of Australia. The skipper was dismissed for just one run on Wednesday at the Melbourne Cricket Ground as the Australian skipper and pacer bowled a beautiful delivery.
The 29-year-old walked into bat just before an over as Pat Cummins was bowling wonderfully. The Australian pacer had taken the previous wicket also. Cummins bowled a beautiful in dipper and made the ball to seam. Babar played through the wrong line as the ball went through the right-hander’s bat and pad.
Babar registered scores of 21 and 14 in the first test at Perth as his side lost by an inning and 360 runs. Babar scored 320 runs in the World Cup in India in October- November including four fifty-plus scores as his average was 40. Some ex-Pakistani cricketers had advised him to give up captaincy that would help him concentrate on his batting.
Will Pakistan bounce back?
Shan Masood was handed over the captaincy in the longest format while Shaheen Shah Afridi was handed the captaincy in T20Is. Still, there isn’t any announcement about the captaincy in the limited-overs format. In the ongoing test, Pakistan managed to dismiss Australia for 318 as Marnus Labuschagne was the highest scorer with 63. Pakistan’s score at the end of the second day is 194/6. Abdullah Shafique and Shan Masood were the highest scorers with 62 and 54 for Pakistan.
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