Pakistan captain Babar Azam led his side’s fightback against England in the ongoing first Test in Rawalpindi after the visitors climbed the mountain of 657 runs in the first innings that too at a positive pace after the openers made merry on one of the flattest tracks produced for the longest format of the game. Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq smashed centuries before Babar took charge.
England came back strongly with three wickets in quick succession before Babar had to just stay there. The bowlers were not getting any help from the track and Babar and debutant Saud Shakeel just applied themselves and scored runs. Shakeel got out just after tea but Babar continued his magnificent run notching up his 8th Test century. Babar didn’t look like stopping anytime soon as the pitch just wasn’t showing any signs of deterioration despite three days of play on it before all-rounder Will Jacks created an opportunity out of nowhere to send back the Pakistan captain on 136.
Pakistan lost a couple of more wickets before the end of the day’s play but it was Babar, who was responsible for his side getting through Day 3 without getting all-out. Former England captain Michael Vaughan was among several cricketers who praised Babar for his knock. However, Vaughan went to the extent of saying that the Pakistan captain is the best in the world across all formats. “Class act @babarazam258 .. Nothing more sure of a 100 than one for him on this pitch .. across all formats the best in the world,” Vaughan wrote.
Naturally, Vaughan was criticised for his comment as the fans said that the former captain should check the statistics before making such claims. While many said that Steve Smith, Virat Kohli are the best in the world, some reminded Vaughan of Babar’s poor T20 World Cup campaign where he scored just 124 runs in 7 innings at an average of 17.7. One of the fans said that even Ravichandran Ashwin, the veteran Indian off-spinner who has five centuries to his name, would be able to score a triple century, given how lifeless Rawalpindi pitch has been.
Pakistan will hope to add a few quick runs to their overnight total of 499/7 and reduce the deficit to as much as they can before England go on another one of their rampages to set up a final-day thriller.
