Former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin dubbed Babar Azam’s partnership with vice-captain Salman Ali Agha as the best depiction of “The Tortoise and Rabbit story.” The ex-Pakistan skipper’s 64-run knock off 90 deliveries was polar opposite to Agha’s 42 off 28 balls. Eventually, Azam’s slow-paced knock cost Pakistan the Champions Trophy opener as New Zealand clinched a 60-run win.
Ashwin’s take on Babar-Agha partnership
The partnership between Babar and Agha saw the latter stepping on the gas. Their 58-run partnership came off 59 deliveries, with Azam scoring only 16 runs from 32 deliveries. Agha, on the other hand, went berserk. He slammed 42 runs off 28 deliveries, lacing it with 6 fours and one six. Opener Babar was involved in six partnerships in the game against New Zealand but only managed to score 64 runs from 90 deliveries. His strike rate hovered just above 70.
Babar’s journey to 50 coupled with Salman Ali Agha’s batting has to be the best depiction of “ The Tortoise and Rabbit story” . #ChampionsTrophy
— Ashwin
The 50 I hope will come soon enough(@ashwinravi99) February 19, 2025
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Batting first in the contest, the Kiwis were powered to a mammoth 320-run total in the 1st innings. Centurions Will Young (107) and Tom Latham (117) punished the Pakistan bowlers, taking the pacer trio of Shaheen-Naseem-Rauf to the cleaners.
In response, Pakistan played an alarmingly slow-paced innings. In the absence of Fakhar Zaman, Saud Shakeel was sent to open with Babar Azam but he only managed to score 6 runs. Late heroics from Salman Ali Agha and Khushdil Shah couldn’t help Pakistan get past the winning line as they were bowled out for 260 runs.
