AUS vs PAK: Babar Azam Speaks About David Warner's Dropped Catch After Loss To Australia

The Babar Azam-led Pakistan National Cricket Team faced a humiliating 62-run defeat at the hands of Pat Cummins-led Australia National Cricket Team in the 18th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday, October 20.

Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl in the first match. The decision turned out to be a nightmare for the side as the Australian openers David Warner and Mitchell Marsh played aggressive cricket.

The Australian opening duo looked unstoppable as they added 259 runs in 203 balls to lay the foundation for a 400-plus total. However, Shaheen Afridi bagged the first wicket of the innings to open the floodgates. Afridi kept picking wickets at regular intervals and was well supported by Haris Rauf and Usama Mir.

Australia were restricted to 367/9 as Shaheen Afridi bagged five wickets, Haris Rauf picked three wickets and Usama Mir got one wicket.

Chasing the target, Imam-ul-Haq and Abdullah Shafique provided Pakistan with a terrific start. However, the middle-order wasn’t able to make the most of the start provided by the openers and they got bundled out for 305 in 45.3 overs.

If you drop the catch of someone like Warner, he won’t spare you – Babar Azam

During the post-match presentation ceremony, Babar Azam said that they were not up to the mark on the field, and dropping the catch of David Warner for 10 proved to be damaging. Babar Azam said:

“Were not up to the mark with the ball. And if you drop the catch of someone like Warner, he won’t spare you. This is a big scoring ground, margin of error is very less.”

Babar Azam, however, credited the bowlers for bringing Pakistan back into the game after a poor start with the ball. He said:

“Whole credit to fast bowlers and spinners for the way we pulled it back in last few overs. Just tried to hit the length and hit the stumps.”

Babar Azam opened up on his message to the batters ahead of the mammoth run-chase and added that they need to get better with the bat in middle overs. He said:

“Message was simple – we can do it, we’ve done it in the past. Ball came on well under lights. Couldn’t get big partnerships in the middle overs. Need to be better in the first 10 overs with the ball, and better in the middle overs with the bat.”