New Delhi: The Pakistani skipper Babar Azam showcased his class against debutant Nepal in the opening game of the Asia Cup 2023. His exhilarating knock of 151 runs in 131 deliveries helped Pakistan start the tournament with a big win.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra, on his show Aakashvani streaming on JioCinema, praised Babar’s knock and hailed him as the best player of the format.
Chopra said, “Nepal seemed confident after getting the two early wickets and everything was going according to plan. But then comes Babar Azam. Nineteen centuries in 102 innings, he’s truly an unbelievable player and is in a league of his own.”
“Now, of course, there will be people saying that ‘it's just against minnows and it’s a flat pitch’. The tournament has just begun, and Babar Azam has set it on fire. Now, everyone will be playing against minnows and on great pitches and people will then notice that while the players are very good, they couldn’t score 150+ in the same conditions,” he added.
After losing early wickets skipper held the innings from one end to build the match-saving partnership with Iftikhar Ahmed. Both the duo added 214 runs for the fifth wicket and took their team past 300 runs. Ahmed ended up scoring 109 runs in 79 deliveries with 11 fours and 4 sixes.
Chopra also addressed Iftikhar Ahmed’s performance in the match and cited it as an exceptional knock. Chopra said, “As we saw yesterday, there is an issue with Pakistan's middle order, and they are addressing it, but Iftikhar Ahmed has papered over the cracks for the time being. Whenever he does play – it's exceptional.”
Also Read: Cricket History“They made a lot of runs and then with the new ball came Shaheen Afridi, Naseem Shah, and Haris Rauf – they were all over Nepal. This is understandable as they are an inexperienced side but they must be thinking that they could have done better,” he added.
