Babar Azam surpasses Shahid Afridi’s unwanted record in T20I cricket

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan star batter Babar Azam has surpassed the former captain Shahid Afridi to achieve an unwanted record in T20I cricket during the tri-series match against Zimbabwe at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Tuesday.

The right-handed batter, who had recently starred with a match-winning half-century in the T20I series decider against South Africa, was caught off guard by Brad Evans’ length delivery, which sharply nipped back after pitching and struck his back knee, sending him back to the pavilion without scoring.

This recent three-ball duck saw him overtake Shahid Afridi on Pakistan’s unwanted T20I ducks leaderboard.

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With this, Babar now has nine ducks in 132 T20I matches, surpassing Afridi’s eight and placing him third on Pakistan’s list of most T20I ducks, behind Umar Akmal and Saim Ayub, who each have 10.

Most Ducks for Pakistan in T20Is

• Umar Akmal – 10 ducks in 84 matches
• Saim Ayub – 10 ducks in 52* matches
• Babar Azam – 9 ducks in 132* matches
• Shahid Afridi – 8 ducks in 98 matches
• Kamran Akmal – 7 ducks in 58 matches
• Mohammad Hafeez – 7 ducks in 119 matches

Despite Babar’s duck, Pakistan chased down the 148-run target against Zimbabwe in 19.2 overs after losing five wickets.

Fakhar Zaman and Usman Khan stitched a vital 61-run stand after the Green Shirts were reduced to 54-4 in 9.3 overs.

Fakhar played a 32-ball 44, which included two sixes and two fours; meanwhile, Usman remained unbeaten after a gutsy 37 off 28 with the help of three boundaries.

READ: “We need to be ruthless in powerplay,” says Agha after Zimbabwe win