He came, he saw, he conquered. In a must-win fixture for Pakistan on Wednesday, Babar Azam walked in, displayed nerves of steel and stayed till the end of the chase to send his side over the line with a six-wicket triumph over the unbeaten side of the tournament, New Zealand.
Green shirts, who were 110 for three at the halfway point of 25 overs, achieved the target in final over at the loss of four wickets, all credits to Babar Azam’s undefeated and marvelous 101-run knock.
“This is my best innings. the wicket was difficult and turned a lot in the second half. The plan was to go through to the end and give my 100%,” man-of-the-match, Babar, said at the presentation ceremony.
“When we started, the plan was to see out Ferguson. But when Santner came on, the plan became not to give wickets to him and cover up later when the fast bowlers come on. The fans support us here in Birmingham, it’s great.”
As Pakistan kept their hopes to reach the semis alive, Twitterati took to the social media platform to express their happiness and, obviously, to compare the young great Babar with his Indian idol, Virat Kohli.
Following the high-staked fixture, the growing legend took to Twitter to dedicate his ton to “SoniDharti (motherland)”.
Prime Minister Imran Khan, a cricket legend himself, lauded the cricket team, especially the man of the moment, Babar, for “a great comeback”
For PTI stalwart Aleem Khan, it was a “treat to watch Babar Azam” in action.
‘Doosra’ legend Saeed Ajmal wanted Babar to “carry this energy on”.