Babar Azam, First Pakistan Captain To Win A World Cup Match On Indian Soil (Image:Instagram/babrazam)
Pakistani international cricketer Mohammad Babar Azam rose to an unprecedented credit as the first captain of the country to secure an ODI World Cup win on the Indian soil. He led the Men in Green and the gang thrashed Netherlands by 81 runs. The game was held at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Friday.
The Pakistan national team had so far played two ODI World Cup in India and lost both times.
The first instance was in 1996, during the World Cup co-hosted by India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Then the team lost to India in the second quarterfinal at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Karnataka’s Bengaluru. In the match, Pakistan was captained by Aamer Sohail and India by Mohammad Azharuddin. India won the game by 39 runs and secured their place in the semi-finals.
The second was in the 2011 World Cup, where the MS Dhoni led Indian national cricket team caned Pakistan by 29 runs. It was also co-hosted by India along with Sri Lanka and for the first time Bangladesh. India and Pakistan clashed in the second semi-final played at the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium in Mohali. India won the tournament, defeating Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the final at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and became the first country to win the Cricket World Cup final on home soil.
What Babar Azam achieved on Friday is huge to Pakistan and he became the first Pakistan captain to win a World Cup match in India after defeating Netherlands. It was 81 runs winning, spectacular to kick start their World Cup campaign.
Meanwhile Mr Azam, who is widely regarded as one of the finest batters in contemporary world cricket, was dismissed for just 5 runs, unable to get a great start. Pakistan’s next World Cup game is scheduled on October 10 at India’s Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat against Sri Lanka.
Babar Azam is the most successful T20I batter of Pakistan, who scored the maiden T20 century (with 122) against South Africa. It is the current highest individual score by a Pakistan cricketer in the format.
