Babar Azam takes down Virat Kohli after Pakistan boycott India T20 World Cup clash

Pakistan played their third and final T20I game against Australia at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore, on Sunday. Despite already sealing the three-match series after their 90-run victory in the second game, Salman Ali Agha’s side won a T20 series against the Kangaroos after 2018. On Sunday, they came for the clean sweep and were successful as they won the game by 111 runs and the series 3-0.

This victory will surely boost some confidence for the Men in Green side right ahead of the T20 World Cup. On the weekend, a record was broken with Babar Azam after scoring an unbeaten 36-ball 50, and he went past the record of Virat Kohli of scoring the most T20I half-centuries. This was Babar Azam’s 39th half-century, in the shortest format of the game, making him the first player to get to the mark.

Babar Azam tops the chart

Babar Azam achieved the milestone in just 139 innings, compared to Kohli, who achieved 38 in 125 innings. The next in the list are Rohit Sharma (37), Mohammad Rizwan (31), and David Warner (29). Among these five, Rohit and Kohli have retired from the shorter format of the game and only feature in one format. Warner has retired from all forms, and Rizwan has been out of the team.

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Babar Azam would like to pounce on the opportunity and take the lead in scoring some more fifties before he calls off the T20I format. However, the strike rate for Babar still remains a problem for him. He has often been criticised for playing too slowly. The former Pakistan captain had the lowest strike rate in the innings for any player who faced at least five balls.

Babar's slow strike rate is a concern

His inability to find big shots and score quickly in high-scoring games has been a major concern, which was also visible in the recent Big Bash League.

Kohli and Rohit did not have the best of strike rates to start the innings; however, they managed it later as per the situation. Not to forget that Rohit Sharma has the joint-fastest century in T20I, and also the player with the joint-most T20I centuries.

Pakistan clean-swept Australia

Babar Azam needs to adapt to the situations and play some big shots on occasions, with the game being more fast-paced nowadays. Pakistan did secure a big 207/6 total, but Babar’s slow batting remains a headache for the Pakistan team ahead of the World Cup. Coming to the game despite Pakistan losing early wickets, Saim Ayyub set the tempo of the game, striking a 37-ball 56.

Shadab Khan’s explosive batting towards the end, scoring 46 off just 19 deliveries, helped Agha’s side to post a total of 207, as they scored 70 runs in the final five overs. Australia never came close to the chase as they were struggling with 63/5. Mohammad Nawaz spun the web against the Aussie batters, picking up his career best of 5 for 18. Thus, the visitors failed to even go past the 100-run mark and were bowled out for 96 runs.

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